Deadly Mistake
by nacho-chan
Summary: Naruto and Sakura are ambushed, and when Sakura's hurt, Naruto loses control. But while he's in the form of the Nine-Tails, Naruto makes a deadly mistake. Now he can only try to make it right. NaruSaku
1. Prologue

OH MY BISCUITS AND GRAVY, who am I? What's this? _A chapter?_ What are those?

Oh, I remember now. I used to write fanfictions and regularly upload chapters. Haha.

Well, you guys voted that you wanted a NaruSaku story so here it is! I already had this idea, so here it is in story form. It's kind of... dark? No, tragic? Bloody? I don't know. I'll just say tragic. But I owe you guys after my extremely long vacation. And yeah, Spring Break is about to start so I'll write over that week's time, aaaannnd eyah. I think that's all I had to say. Enjoy! (hopefully)

I DON'T OWN NARUTO. D:

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><p><strong>PROLOGUE<strong>

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><p><em>Naruto felt the rage pounding through his veins like it was his blood. With the Nine-Tails in him, it kind of was. <em>

_But nothing before even compared to this; this unbelievable, burning rage that overwhelmed his mind and all his thoughts, controlled his body and left him with a desire to destroy the cause. Claws came out of his fingertips, and his eyes turned to slits as his vision turned into a red haze._

_The rage began burning outside his body, covering him in the Nine-Tails' chakra. A laugh escaped his lips –or, a growl from his snout?- as the power surged through him. Hate fueled his rage, and his rage fueled his power._

Kill. Kill. Kill.

_Naruto let go of his mind. The Nine-Tails took over, and after that, Naruto had barely any idea what was going on. Everything was red. He felt his claws ripping into flesh, and gained satisfaction from it. Blood spilled. Voices screamed in terror; it filled him with pleasure._

Kill. Kill. Kill.

_The desire hit the Nine-Tails again._

_Chakra began welling up into a little ball of energy, ready to be released. It was let go, and went to unleash havoc. Destroying, killing what was in its path._

_It was great. Magnificent. It made him feel terrific – no, not him. Not Naruto. It made the Nine-Tails feel that way. Naruto was just subjected to feel the same._

_But as his claws ripped through flesh a few times, and he picked the enemy up and threw the body far, Naruto felt that same cruel joy as the creature inside him. He faintly heard a smash through the Nine-Tails' ears that said that the body had hit something. There was a scream once, then a loud, wailing, painful moan, and lastly a cry for help. They all sent the feeling of power to him. There were words, too- but Naruto couldn't make those out. They weren't loud enough, but sometimes, they sounded like his name._

_There were others before that, too, and Naruto killed them. They were cruel, merciless enemies, but nothing compared to the Nine-Tails. Nothing compared to a monster._

_It was over quick, of course. When he was so powerful, and those others didn't even stand a chance. Slowly at first, Naruto eased out of his rage. The fire inside him extinguished. The chakra disappeared from his body. The claws were gone. His eyes turned round and blue before closing as he fell to the ground._

_Naruto –for now, he was himself- pushed himself up, looking around through squinted eyes. He barely had any energy, but he could see. He could see it all._

_He was in a large crater. The trees around it were burning. Carnage was strewn across the ground, and blood was pooled in multiple places. A bird circled overhead, letting out a cryl._

_The bodies were all the same. The same grays, browns, and blacks of the enemies. No color. Just the continuous bland bodies._

_Just the still pink girl, lying in a pool of blood. Broken._

_Naruto's energy left him. Everything went black._

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><p>Yeah, soooo it's super short. But it's the prologue and I'm about to upload the next chapter right now, then the next one tomorrow!<p>

REVIEW~! PLEASE~!


	2. Memories

Chapter one of my new story, wootwoot! Just in case you need to know, DEPENDING ON HOW FAR YOU ARE IN THE SERIES THIS CHAPTER MAY CONTAIN A FEW SPOILERS. Nothing too major, but still, while Naruto is dreaming he remembers stuff that happens all the way back to like the first few episodes to sometime in Shippuden... so be aware! the rest is fine.

I DON'T OWN NARUTO D:

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><p><strong>CHAPTER ONE: MEMORIES<strong>

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><p>Naruto's body burned. It ached it multiple places, and pain seared through him if he moved. He let out a groan, but even that hurt. There were voices nearby, coming increasingly closer. He heard shouts and gasps.<p>

_Why would they do that? _he wondered.

"There! We found them! Someone get the medics here!"

Naruto clenched his eyes closed. The light outside seemed too bright. He wanted the dark back, where it was warm and quiet.

"Was it just your team here?" a gruff voice asked.

"Sai and I split away from them. The other two should be here."

Couldn't they just be quiet? Didn't they know that their loud voices made his ears hurt?

The pounding footsteps came closer, vibrating in his head. They came to a sudden halt.

"Oh, no…"

"Go get Tsunade! _NOW!_"

_Tsunade?_ Naruto remembered her. Why was that old lady coming? What happened?

Suddenly someone was grabbing him, rolling him over. It hurt. Pain ripped through his muscles as they were stretched. His arms burned even more where large hands grabbed them.

He was on his back then. Even though his eyes were closed, the sun shone through his eyelids and made his eyes water. He squeezed them tighter together, taking in ragged breaths.

"Naruto. Naruto, wake up. We're here now. It's going to be okay."

Was that Kakashi? _Why would Kakashi-_

A couple memories flitted through his mind. They split up. An enemy ambush. _Rage._

"Can you hear me? Where is she? _Where is she?_"

What was that urgency in his voice? Who did he mean by "she"?

Naruto let out a low moan. The hands were gripping his arms even tighter. They burned as though he didn't have any skin on them.

_Do I?_

"Kakashi."

Suddenly the grip slackened.

"We found her."

The hands were gone, and Naruto felt Kakashi's footsteps as he walked past his head. The vibration made his head pound.

"She"? "Her"? Who were they talking about?

"Just hold on, Naruto. Tsunade's on her way."

_Sai? Sai's here too?_

Tsunade, Sai, Kakashi, and who else was missing?

His body burned. He breathed in a few more ragged breaths. A face flashed in Naruto's mind.

Pink hair, green eyes, and a beautiful smile.

Naruto's mind slipped back in the darkness.

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><p>Naruto wasn't too aware of what happened after that, just the feeling of pain as he was moved and transported to Konoha. He was pulled into the hospital, put in a room, and was worked on for hours, mostly by Tsunade. She was the only one who'd ever healed Naruto after he was taken control of by the Nine-Tails and burned.<p>

Except for Sakura.

Naruto was worked on most of the time, but occasionally Tsunade left. She was working on someone else.

For two days, almost three, Tsunade worked on healing Naruto. He was in worst condition than ever before. But, thanks to the Nine-Tails, he healed quickly, quicker than anyone else would have. Really, though, anyone who went through that probably would have died.

It was just so… _unnatural._

That's why people spoke in hushed voices outside the door of his room.

"Did you hear what happened?"

"He made a crater almost as big as the city!"

"Trees were burned down."

"Bodies were everywhere… and so much blood…"

"He just _killed them all_…"

Naruto was in a coma for only a little over a week. That whole timed he dreamed. Sometimes, it was memories of the old days; Sasuke was there. Other times were just random everyday dreams, but most of the time, he remembered what had happened. Little bits and parts of his memory were coming together.

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><p>"<em>You will all be in a group of three, where you will accomplish missions under a Jounin teacher."<em>

"_7__th__ group… Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, and Uchiha Sasuke."_

_Naruto was tied to a post, his stomach rumbling in hunger._

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><p>"<em>I'm so hungry…" he whined.<em>

_A moment passed before Sasuke thrust his lunch in front of Naruto, avoiding his gaze and acting nonchalant. Naruto stared at Sasuke, surprised that he was doing it even though Kakashi had ordered them not to share with Naruto._

_Sakura looked from Sasuke's act of selflessness to her own lunch. She brought it up, offering it to Naruto too._

"_You guys…" Naruto started, touched by their acts._

"_Whatever," Sasuke said._

"_I'm going on a diet anyways," Sakura explained, though it was easy to tell she was bluffing._

_Kakashi suddenly appeared in front of them in a cloud of smoke. He gazed at them furiously. "You three…" _

"_PASS!"_

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><p>"<em>Please, Naruto… please bring Sasuke back to me…"<em>

"_I will, Sakura! I promise!"_

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><p>"<em>Sa…su…ke…"<em>

_Naruto ran ahead with all his might, heading towards the end of the tunnel to where Sakura stood and looked up with wide eyes. He crashed into the room, coming to a sudden halt and looked up. The sun blinded his eyes, but he could see the silhouette standing above._

"_Naruto," the silhouette acknowledged, "Sakura."_

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><p><em>Sakura slipped.<em>

_It was her arm; it wasn't strong enough, still hurt. The next thing Naruto knew, Sakura was falling, heading to the ground at an increasingly fast pace._

"_Sakura!" he shouted._

_Naruto reached out, trying to grab her hand. She reached for his, and they tried to grab each other. They missed by just an inch._

_Naruto could only watch then as she plummeted to the ground._

"_SAKURA!"_

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><p><em>Yamamoto moved close to Naruto, leaning towards his ear.<em>

"_Naruto, it wasn't Orochimaru who hurt Sakura… it was you."_

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><p><em>Ramen. Everywhere. It overwhelmed Naruto, filling his stomach and flying into his fridge, his cupboards, all over. He would never have to buy ramen ever again.<em>

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><p>Naruto's heart monitor began to beep faster as his heartbeat increased frequency. His eyebrows furrowed. He dreamed – he dreamed memories. He began to remember.<p>

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><p>"<em>Let's split up," Kakashi suggested. "Sai and I will scout to the east while you two head west."<em>

"_Okay," Naruto said. Sakura nodded in understanding, and the two headed off._

"_Careful," Sakura reminded as Naruto just blundered away. "Remember, we _are_ in enemy territory now."_

"_Oh, yeah," Naruto said, an embarrassed blush covering his cheeks. They continued in a stealthy silence._

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><p>Naruto tossed and turned in his hospital bed, the most movement he'd had in days. A passing nurse rushed in, trying to figure out what was wrong.<p>

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><p><em>An ambush was waiting ahead. <em>

_There were so many, probably most of the men they'd been looking for. The two didn't stand a chance – at first. But they still tried to fend the overpowering number off._

_Naruto fought with as many shadow clones as he could. It was his best bet. The enemy had so many, against just him and Sakura._

_Sakura._

_She was trying her best, using her monstrous strength, but she was out of shape after so many days of working as just a medic. Her stamina left quickly. Ten guys surrounded her._

"_Sakura!" Naruto shouted._

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><p>"Naruto, calm down!" the nurse tried to soothe, also attempting to pin his arms to his sides. He was thrashing around, and his heartbeat was picking up. Monitors began emitting urgent beeps.<p>

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><p><em>A guy caught her, yanking her arms behind her back. She tried to pull free, but he was using chakra to enhance his strength, too. Another one kicked Sakura in the stomach, making her double over and cough. She reared back up, head-butting the man holding her. He let go of her arms, hollering as he held his hands to his face.<em>

_The others began closing in on Sakura. Naruto could see her labored breathing as he cut through enemies trying to get to her._

_She fought, pulling all the strength she had left. It just wasn't a fair fight though; she'd be going one-on-one with an enemy, and then another would come up behind her, knocking her in the head. She'd try to fend them both off - more would come up, hitting her while her defenses were down. They were overwhelming her._

"_Naruto!" Sakura hollered as she saw him racing towards her, now free of any enemies._

_She stared at him, hope in her eyes. Let her defenses down._

_Someone grabbed her. Another stabbed a kunai into her side. He pushed it as far as it would go, then twisted it in her flesh._

_She screamed. The man holding her threw her to the ground._

'_One down, one to go' the men seemed to think._

"_SAKURA!" Naruto screamed._

_They began coming towards him._

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><p>"Help!" the nurse hollered. "Someone get me some help in here!"<p>

People began running into Naruto's room. Men pinned down his arms and legs with difficulty. Someone was holding his head to keep it from thrashing as another checked all his monitors. The normally calm lines were jagged as the moved quickly across the screen.

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><p><em>Naruto stared at the men in rage. He tried to take deep breathes, tried to calm himself. It started to work, but then Sakura managed to stand up and pull the kunai out of her side. She screamed in pain as blood began to pour out of her wound. She weakly tried to heal it. Fell to her knees instead.<em>

_Naruto let go of the calm. Red overwhelmed his vision. He felt chakra –its chakra- coursing through his veins_

_These men were going to pay._

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><p>Naruto thrashed, straining against the people holding him. Shouts were echoing across the room. The monitors beeped. People gasped as red chakra began to seep out and cover Naruto's body. It burned the hands of the ones holding him, but they kept their grip, gritting their teeth.<p>

"Someone get Tsunade!" a nurse shouted, running into the hallway. "We need Tsunade NOW!"

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><p><em>Naruto transformed. The men began to run, but he caught them. He gave them what they deserved. He killed mercilessly.<em>

"_Naruto…" Sakura whispered, staring at his transformed body. She could see the rage on his –the Nine-Tails'- face._

_He began to build up chakra, ready to wipe out a lot all at the same time._

"_Naruto," Sakura called, louder. She shakily rose to her feet. This wasn't right._

_He released the chakra. Sakura ran to him. Men died._

"_Naruto!" Sakura shouted, running. Her side burned with an unbelievable pain. "Naruto, stop!"_

_He didn't stop. He couldn't, not until everybody was dead. That meant _everybody.

_That's why he saw the pink haired girl as an enemy, just another to kill as she ran to him._

"_NARUTO!" Sakura screamed. He couldn't hear her. He was buried in the rage. He was too deep in._

_He saw the "enemy", and took care of her. That was what he did in his blind rage._

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><p>Yep-yup! So that was very... line-y. all them parallel lines in there, thankfull there won't be that many in the rest of the chapters. I'm not sure how long this story will be, but definitely shorter that Strange Girl.<p>

REVIEW~! PLEASE~!


	3. Wake Up

**I LOVE YOU ALL.** Like, seriously. So many reviews and adds to story alerts. T_T Pure joy~

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><p><strong>CHAPTER 2: WAKE UP<strong>

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><p>It was a miracle when he woke up.<p>

It was a slow process. First, Naruto came out of his dream of another memory. After a few minutes of just lying there, the wheels in his brain began slowly turning and he realized that he was awake. He opened his eyes. He shut them again; it was too bright. Sunlight streamed through the window as a cool breeze blew the sheer white curtains.

Naruto opened his eyes again, mind blank. He looked around, slowly turning his head. His neck felt stiff and the rest of his body didn't even feel like moving yet.

_Where…?_ Naruto's brain began to form thoughts. He glanced around the room once more and figured it out; a hospital. He was in the hospital.

Naruto slowly began to shift his body. It felt stiff and achy like his neck. His ears suddenly processed a beeping and his swung his eyes towards the monitor by his bed.

Naruto examined it, taking in all the numbers and graphs as he carefully pushed himself into a sitting position. He seemed okay, so why was he here? What had happened?

The memories rushed into his head all at once.

His head swam as his vision faded to black, though it didn't matter because all he saw was the memories flashing through his mind. He had defeated them all, all of those enemies! What an amazing feat! He'd turned into the Nine-Tails though, using its power. He wasn't sure what happened during that time.

Naruto looked around blearily. The door suddenly snapped open, making Naruto look up.

"You're finally awake," Tsunade said, smiling at him.

Naruto attempted a smile. "Grandma Tsunade!"

The older blonde woman glared at him. "Hey, treat the Hokage with some respect."

Naruto didn't even pay attention. He spoke slowly. "So… why am I here?"

"Turning into the Nine-Tails really took a toll on your body this time," Tsunade explained, strolling into the room and checking his monitors as she marked a clipboard.

Naruto nodded as his head cleared some. He realized he was hungry. "Is there any food?"

Tsunade gave him another smile. "You bet. I'll go get a nurse." Her heels clicked on the linoleum floor. The clicking stopped at the door as she turned and regarded him with a thoughtful gaze.

"What?" Naruto asked.

"Nothing," Tsunade said dismissively. "You should eat and then try to get more rest. I'll be back to check up on you."

"Okay," Naruto agreed, grinning.

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><p>Naruto inhaled the food brought for him and then snuggled up under the thin white sheets of the hospital bed. He fell into a deep sleep, not waking back up until the next day around the same time.<p>

No one was around when he woke up, feeling refreshed. He felt like he could probably leave now, but didn't feel like risking Tsunade's wrath. So he just sat around, observing the room to pass some time. There was a door which he knew led to a bathroom, and the window to the left of his bed. There were hooks on the wall behind the door and Naruto's clothes were hanging on one, neat and clean. There was a small table to the right of his bed with just a clock on it that read _12:43_ in red.

The room bored Naruto. He just sat back in his bed, thinking about what went on, waiting for someone to come.

Around one o' clock Tsunade came through the door again. She walked over, checked his vitals, then walked away saying "You have visitors." Then she was gone.

He watched the open door and soon two people came in. Naruto grinned, happy to see them.

"Yo, Naruto," Kakashi greeted, raising a hand.

Sai nodded in his direction.

"Hey, guys!" Naruto said, his face beaming. He was so glad they were finally here! He'd been waiting for them to come get him. They'd break him out of here.

Naruto watched as his teammates walked up to his bedside, not speaking. Not smiling.

Naruto gave another smile, though it was a little hesitant this time. "So, apparently I saved the day, huh?"

"Yeah," Kakashi agreed. He might have been smiling, but his eyes didn't reflect any emotion. It was as though something was on his mind, troubling him.

Sai stayed silent.

"Was the mission completed then?" Naruto probed.

Kakashi seemed to hesitate. "Kind of."

"Kind of?"

Kakashi paused.

"Well, there wasn't really anyone left after you were done," Kakashi explained. "And we had to leave early for… _medical reasons_."

The words struck Naruto, a sudden realization flashing in his head.

"Where's… Sakura?" he asked, afraid of the answer.

Kakashi and Sai shared a long, solemn look, heightening Naruto's fears.

"Where is she?" Naruto asked again, his voice getting louder.

"I'll be back," Kakashi said quietly, disappearing from the room.

Sai pulled a chair up next to Naruto's bedside. "How well do you think you can walk?"

"I can manage. Where is she?"

"You've been out for quite a while."

"Where is she?" Naruto's voice rose.

"Tsunade said just a couple days until you can go back-"

"_Damn it,_ Sai, where is she?" Naruto shouted.

His teammate just gave that fake smile, like it was supposed to comfort him; like it was supposed to make everything okay.

Kakashi came back in. "He can come."

Sai nodded, gesturing for him to try and stand up. Naruto swung his legs over the bedside, the stiffness of his body sending an ache that he ignored. He stood up, and Sai put Naruto's arm over his shoulders, supporting him. They followed Kakashi through the door and down the hallway. Naruto limped slightly.

While they walked, people stared; nurses, doctors, patients. They gave him different looks of fear, sympathy, sadness, or pity. The looks confused him and made his stomach tighten for some unknown reason. The looks also made him angry.

They walked the whole length of the hall. Halfway down, Naruto thought he'd seen Ino walk out of the very last room. But she was crying and soon disappeared, so he passed it off as a hallucination.

Kakashi ended up leading them to that last room on the left. It was quiet down here, away from the main section of the hospital. Kakashi went ahead into the room, and with every step, Naruto began to fear. He'd never been afraid of his enemies - never. But here he was now, afraid to walk through a door.

Sai stopped outside the door, releasing his grip slightly to grab the doorknob.

"Kakashi?" the emotionless boy called, and that was exactly what he was – emotionless.

"Bring him in."

Sai opened the door, pushing it away from them. Naruto stared into the room. It was dark and quiet; the windows and blinds were pulled closed, casting the room in a shadow. There was a small lamp that lit an eerie glow over the room, especially over the occupant of the bed. Next to the lamp were many types of flowers, in all different kinds of vases.

Kakashi sat in a chair beside the bed with his back to them. He was slouched over, his head in his hands. He was quiet. No one moved, and only a monitor with many tubes beeped occasionally, slowly.

Naruto saw all that before he finally directed his eyes to the person in the bed.

And when he saw her, his legs gave out and he crashed to the ground in horror.

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><p>Meh smeh meh. I had a bad day today. And then that review didn't help. The others did though! :D Oh, and sorry if I disappointed anyone with Sakura not actually being dead. XD I'll try and finish the next chapter tomorrow, but I think I'll have to work on this one project I have, so...<p>

REVIEW~! PLEASE~!


	4. To See Her

So I had to reupload this chapter because something glitched I guess. I don't know what I originally wrote here.

I don't own Naruto!

Enjoy!

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><p><strong>CHAPTER 3: TO SEE HER<strong>

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><p>She was in terrible shape, almost beyond recognition. Except for that pink hair.<p>

Naruto heard Sai's voice, off in the distance. He vaguely felt his teammate trying to pull him back up. But Naruto didn't trust his legs right now.

From the ground he stared at her. Her legs were bent in unseemly positions, wrapped in bandages as far up as he could see, and a splint was holding her right foot. Her left leg was elevated at an angle. Her arms were wrapped up to her elbows, and red blood seeped through the white. He could clearly see her upper arms – they were scarred, ripped, torn; a dried, bloody mess, and he could only imagine that the rest of her body, under the bandages, was the same.

Her chest barely rose and fell. The monitor moved at the slowest pace, showing that her heart was barely beating and that her lungs were barely breathing.

And then there was her face.

Her beautiful face.

Naruto's breath caught in his throat. He wondered if those were tears on his face, or if he'd begun to bleed again.

The skin was mottled red and purple. Scratches covered her face, and her eye was swollen and black. Her earlobe had been cut off, and her lips torn, and her nose smashed. This was only one half of her face – the other he couldn't even see. It was bandaged. Red seeped through

Naruto felt his body begin to shake. His vision was flashing from normal to a red haze to black then back to normal. He couldn't tear his eyes from her form.

"Sakura," he whispered, just as hands quickly grabbed his arms and hauled his up.

"He's not ready."

"I told you we shouldn't have brought him."

"It's too soon. But eventually he'll come to face the truth."

Naruto was dragged from the room, never breaking his stare until the walls blocked his vision. Then he let his mind wander and his eyes close as he was taken back to his room.

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><p>Naruto woke up later. It was dark outside now, and he woke with a thirst that had his mouth and lips dry.<p>

Naruto looked around. There was a cup on his nightstand, but when he grabbed it, the weight told him that there was nothing inside. He sighed, now searching for a button to press that might call the nurse.

Or he could try going to the bathroom.

Naruto decided to try that – he was never one to just sit and wait. So he pushed the sheet off his body, swinging his legs over the side of the bed, then sitting up. Soon, he'd have to try to change out of the ugly hospital gown.

Naruto pushed himself off the bed, grabbing the nightstand for support as he wobbled. After waiting a moment, Naruto took a tentative step towards the bathroom door. He was fine. He made it across the room easily, his muscles looser than they had been before. He staggered into the bathroom, grabbed onto the sink upon entrance, and turned the cold water on. He bent his head down, letting the water gush into his mouth.

Once he was refreshed, Naruto pushed himself back up straight. His vision swam for a moment, but it quickly subsided.

"Naruto? Naruto!"

He looked up sharply at his name.

"Wha…" his voice came out in a pathetic little scratch. He cleared it. "What?"

A wide-eyed nurse came into his view. "What are you doing in here?"

"Water," he replied with a scratchy voice, gesturing lamely to the sink he was leaning on.

"Get back in bed!" she barked, hurrying over to him. She grabbed his arms, leading him out to his bed.

Naruto looked at her nails as they grabbed his sleeve. They were red, with little white circles.

They reminded him of something.

The realization hit him.

"Oh my God," Naruto deadpanned, stopping in the middle of the room. The nurse tried to pull him back to the bed, but he didn't budge. "Oh my God. Sakura."

The nurse's eyes seemed to get even bigger, but her voice was calm when she spoke. "No, Naruto. Come over here. Let's just go back-"

But it was too late; Naruto pushed her arms away, a sudden burst of energy sending him running from the room. He skidded into the hallway, muscles screaming. Everyone stared at him in surprise as he began heading down the hallway to her room. The last room on the left.

He made it halfway before he collapsed. When he tried to get back up, Kakashi and Sai were suddenly there, each grabbing one of his arms and holding him back.

"Wait!" he shouted. "Stop! Let me go, guys! Let me go!"

He struggled weakly, but in his state he was no match for them. Tsunade came up in front of him, placing a hand on his head.

"Calm now, Naruto," she said, and suddenly something was flooding his brain and his thoughts stopped as his eyelids fell closed.

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><p>Naruto woke up again, the following morning. He was getting tired of waking up in this bed and barely remembering what happened.<p>

When he pushed himself up, he felt groggy at first. He sat for a moment, waiting for the fog in his head to clear. When it did, he looked around.

Naruto scoffed to himself. Of course, he was still in the hospital. Still being kept in this damn bed.

He was fine.

_Just let me go see her. I _need _to see her._

Tsunade walked in, flanked on both sides by Kakashi and Sai. They stopped at his bedside.

"Yo, Naruto," Tsunade greeted, giving him a tight-lipped smile.

Naruto glared at her. "Take me to her."

Tsunade sighed, closing her eyes, as though she knew he'd say that. "Not right now."

"Why?"

Tsunade didn't answer, just turned to a metal tray sitting by his bed. She pulled out some containers of pills, pouring a select few into her hand.

"Here," she said, handing him the pills in one hand and a cup of water in the other.

"Let me go see her."

"_Here._" Tsunade moved the hand with the pills closer.

_I'm not sick. I don't need and pills. I'm fine._

Naruto spoke in a low voice. "I need to see her."

"Just take these Naruto-"

Naruto's hand shot out, smacking Tsunade's and sending the pills flying across the room, clattering onto the floor. The water spilled over the top of the cup.

"_Let me go see her!_" he roared.

Tsunade was on him in an instant, her monstrous strength pinning his neck to the wall above the bed. He choked as her hand pushed against his throat.

"Listen to me. _You're not ready,_" she hissed. "What you saw was just the beginning."

Naruto wanted to reply, but instead gasped for breath.

Tsunade dropped him back down and he slumped against his pillow, breathing in and out while gingerly touching his neck.

Tsunade walked out without another word. Kakashi and Sai gave him a glance before following.

Naruto got his breathing normal again. His neck was fine. But Tsunade's warning just made him want to go see her even more. Up close. He had to know, had to see.

_Tonight, _he decided.

* * *

><p>Naruto was being "good" the rest of the day. He took his pills, stayed in bed, and didn't try to go see Sakura.<p>

Really, though, he just hid the pills in his mouth and spit them out later. He actually got out of bed every time he was alone, slowly stretching his muscles. He was actually planning for that night.

When the nurse came in and gave him his pills before he went to sleep, Naruto did the same process. She asked if he was ready to go to sleep and he nodded, so she turned out the light and closed the door on her way out.

Naruto spit the pills out into his hand, stuffing them in his pocket to either flush or throw out the window later. It was only about 10:00, and though the hospital was always working, after 10:00 things began to slow down. At 11:00 everyone was shutting down. By midnight, barely anyone was around. He'd already learned that much.

Naruto just stayed in bed, waiting. He went through what he'd be doing in his head. He hadn't got up and walked for a few hours and hoped it wouldn't be too hard, that he'd be able to walk – a wheelchair or cane would make noise, and if he moved too slowly, he had more of a chance of being caught.

He thought of getting up and taking little steps around his room, but there was a nurse right outside the door. He didn't want to arouse any suspicion, and he knew she'd be there until 11:00.

He waited.

At 11:44, Naruto decided that he had been waiting long enough. He pushed himself out of bed and stood up.

His legs gave out. Naruto cursed, grabbing onto the bed. A stayed like that a moment –half standing, half crouching- until he stood straight. He took little steps around his bed. He was fine now.

Naruto went to the window, popping it open and tossing his pills out. They landed on the roof of the house across the street this time, giving small metallic clatters as they rolled into the gutter.

Naruto went to the door, sliding it open slowly. No one was right in front of his room, and he didn't hear any footsteps. That was a good sign.

He peeked out, looking up and down the dimly lit hallway. To the left, there was nothing; there were no nurses, doctors, patients, lights, noises, nothing. To the right, at the very end of the hallway, light streamed out of an open door. A cart full of medical supplies sat outside.

Naruto pushed the door open more, sliding out and then closing it behind him. He moved silently down the hall on his bare feet.

He'd been prepared for someone to pop out of a room, but no one ever did. He did, though, have to pass the lounge where some nurses and doctors sat and drank coffee. He stayed on the far side of the hallway, keeping in the shadows and moving as quickly as he could past them.

Naruto made it down a little farther, then a noise alerted him. The nurse at the other end of the hall had come out and was pushing her cart down towards him. If she got too far she'd see him.

Naruto darted into an empty room, and she wasn't any the wiser. She headed down another hallway, out of sight.

He waited a few seconds to be safe, then came back out, sneaking the last few rooms down. His planning paid off and he made it. He walked up to the door, taking a breath. Before he could open it, though, he heard a voice inside and froze.

He hadn't accounted for anyone to be in the room.

* * *

><p>Review please my pretty little readers :D Hehe I sound like the Wicked Witch of the West xD<p> 


	5. Snooping

Hey-o! I know, it's been a while. BUT it hasn't been a full month yet! Ever since, you know, I did that update thing with the typing and the uploading and the submitting...

Well, ANYWAYS, here you guys go. Enjoy. Please

I don't own Naruto. Otherwise my room would still be turquiose blue.

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><p><strong>CHAPTER FOUR: SNOOPING<strong>

* * *

><p>"Hey, Sakura," a voice greeted softly. A chair scraped against the floor. "I brought you something."<p>

Naruto recognized the voice immediately. He peeked through the crack in the door to confirm, and found that he was right. Ino was sitting next to Sakura's bed, obscuring his view of the pink-haired girl.

"These just bloomed this week," Ino continued, fingering the petals on the flowers she was holding. They were purple and white with small petals and thin stems. "The pink ones are still buds, but I thought I'd bring you these purple ones for now. You've never minded purple, though you preferred pink."

Naruto knew that Sakura actually did mind the color purple and didn't always prefer pink. He knew Ino was challenging her – challenging her to wake up and say something.

Ino paused. Sakura stayed silent.

Naruto stood outside the door, pressing close into the shadows along the edge of the hall.

_Should I wait her out? _He wondered. _But someone may find me by then. Maybe I should just go in? Ino may not act like the others... I can't be sure though._

As thoughts whirled through Naruto's head, Ino stood up, her chair scraping on the floor once again. She stood at Sakura's bedside table, pulling old flowers out of the vase and replacing them with the purple ones. She began arranging them into a better position in the vase.

"I'm still a ninja, Naruto," she whispered, causing him to freeze. Her voice carried across the room. "I know you're there."

Naruto found no choice but to push open the door and squeeze in. Now that he was here, in the room, his heart began to thump in his chest as Ino resumed her seat in front of Sakura. He wanted to see her. But at the same time, he was scared to see her like _that_.

Naruto took slow breaths as the images of Sakura flashed through his head. Some of them were from what he had seen last time. Some were created by his imagination.

He kept his eyes trained on the back on Ino's head.

"How much have they told you?" she asked quietly, not turning around.

The question surprised Naruto. He thought about it. "I remember seeing the ambush suddenly come at us," Naruto replied, now gazing out the window as he thought. "After that, I don't remember anything. Tsunade said that… that I turned into the Nine-tails again."

"Yes," Ino's voice was so quiet he could barely hear it, "you did."

"Do you… know more?" Naruto questioned, taking a hesitant step forward. The room was silent for a while, that same yellow glow of the lamp also sending shadows to lurk in the corners. Ino sat still and quiet, like she had been the whole time, her head still not facing him.

"I do."

The whisper rang loud in the silence of the night.

"Can you tell me?"

Naruto waited. He was growing impatient, and the desire to see Sakura was crawling up his throat.

Ino still didn't answer. Still sat, unmoving. Still had her head facing forward.

Naruto took a step forward, sensing something was wrong. A chilly vibe hung in the air. "Ino?"

"Get out."

Naruto barely heard the fierce whisper. It surprised him, freezing him to the spot.

"What?"

"Get out," Ino repeated in a higher volume, a strain in her tone. Her body tensed.

"But-"

"_Get out!_" Ino shrieked, snapping herself up and spinning on him, sending her chair screeching back and toppling to the ground. She glared at him with livid, tear-filled eyes. "_Get out!_"

Naruto was stunned. Suddenly he felt light-headed and took a few steps back, then darted from the room, running down the hall, not taking care to sneak around and hide. His legs were automatic as they took him to his room and dropped him on his bed. He breathed in deeply, taking in air. His legs burned with pain; they hadn't been ready for running. His mind was rushing, and there was something there, at the edge, creeping up from his memories. He tried to remember it, but it slipped away. It felt like he'd just lost an important piece of information.

Suddenly Ino's angry eyes were boring into him from his memory. Naruto twisted and turned on his bed.

Those eyes scared him. Those eyes were angry. They were sad. _They were blaming him_.

Naruto had nightmares the rest of the night.

* * *

><p>Naruto woke up feeling groggy and stiff. And, like every time, he woke up in that damn white hospital bed.<p>

Sunlight streamed through the window. He could hear that the hospital was busy and bustling out in the hallway, and his bedside clock read _12:24_.

_Just in time for lunch_, Naruto thought. _Well, breakfast for me._

Naruto sat idly on the bed, waiting for a nurse to bring him his meal. The memories of last night ran through his head, and he shivered as he recalled Ino's accusing eyes.

_Accusing._

Naruto's clenched the sheet tightly with his hands. He'd have to find out more. He _needed_ to find out more. But what to do next?

A knock echoed around his room and the nurse walked in, carrying a tray containing his food. Naruto watched her walk, suddenly feeling famished. She set the tray on the table that swung out over his lap.

"You really shouldn't miss breakfast," the nurse chided. "You need to keep your strength up by eating all three meals."

"Okay," Naruto mumbled through a bite of food.

The nurse got out his usual pills, placing them on his tray. When she turned around, he stuffed them into his pocket again. When she turned back, he took a sip of water and tilted his head back, pretending to swallow the pills.

The nurse smiled. Then she left.

Naruto finished inhaling his food then swung the table out. He rose from his bed, legs stiff, but he was still doing just as good- or even better- than yesterday. Naruto walked to the bathroom, flushing the pills.

A thought popped in his head about how wasteful it was to flush the pills – other people could be using them. They were perfectly good medicine. Maybe he'd start a little stash, and then sneak them all back later. When, though, he didn't know.

Naruto flopped back onto his bed. He needed a new game plan. He doubted that anyone would tell him about _her _(he could hardly stand to even think her name for it brought up unwanted images) and he still had yet to really see her. If he got a closer look, maybe he'd see what happened.

Naruto thought about sneaking out again that night, and decided to mule it over. He didn't feel like risking if anyone was there again, but also wondered if someone would be there two nights in a row.

Naruto then went through the possible people who might tell him anything. Grandma Tsunade was definitely out. Kakashi and Sai had shown a little leeway but then zipped up tight. He didn't even want to think of talking to Ino again… Naruto had no clue who else knew about it. What about the others? Kiba, Shino, Chouji? Certainly Hinata or Shikamaru would know something. But he hadn't heard from either of them since he left for the mission, which seemed like months ago.

There was another thing that might give Naruto details – Sakura's medical file. Naruto knew where the office on this floor was, so maybe tonight, when he went to go see her (because he decided he couldn't _not_ try), he'd make a pit stop.

* * *

><p>Like the day before, it seemed like days before night came and the hospital finally shut down.<p>

Naruto stayed in bed, his head resting on his pillow as the last noises died away. The night nurse's cart squeaked in the hallway, checking his room then continuing on, farther down. When he judged it to be a safe distance away, he slipped out of bed. His legs felt pretty rested, and he walked better than the night before.

He slipped out of the room, sliding the door closed behind him. Sheets were bunched on his bed so that, in the darkness, they looked like a sleeping person, just in case the nurse should peek in.

Naruto silently padded down the hall. Halfway down was the office, and right next to it was the lounge, where he knew there were doctors and nurses resting. He'd have to be silent while in the medical office, since the staff next door was prone to hearing anything excessively loud. And then they'd all send him back, put a watch on him, and he'd never get to see Sakura.

Naruto grew determined as he walked, picking up speed. He scurried past a room with an occupant still up and watching television, light and colors flashing from the room. Now he could hear the soft voices of the staff and the clinking of their coffee mugs. The light of the lounge was coming closer. Luckily, the office was before it, so he didn't have to risk getting caught by high-tailing it past the lounge.

Unluckily, someone was in the medical office.

Naruto cursed under his breath. He slipped into a vacant room across the hall, watching from the darkness.

It was a middle-aged man, tall and skinny with glasses, and he was wearing the long white doctors' jacket. He was flipping through some papers on the desk then scribbled something down on a sticky note. He poked his head back into the lounge.

"Which file did you want?" he asked.

"Hidashi," another voice replied.

The doctor went to a tall file cabinet. There were two, and he went to the one on the left. Bottom drawer. Naruto assumed that it was alphabetical order, and squinted to see if he could catch Sakura's name in the drawer.

He couldn't make anything out.

The doctor pulled out a file and pushed the drawer back into the cabinet. Naruto took note of the amount and level of noise it made; when he moved it slowly, the first time, it had squeaked more. The second time he had shut it quickly, and there was less of a squeak but more of a rattle.

The doctor walked out the open door, turning the light off as he left. He returned to the lounge.

Naruto waited a moment to be safe then hurried across the hall into the office. He couldn't risk turning the light on; he knew they'd be able to see it. So he went to the cabinet on the left, bottom drawer, and quickly yanked it open. He paused, waiting for a reaction. Life went on over in the lounge.

Naruto gave a small sigh of relief then began squinting at the file names. He thumbed them back. _Hy… Hu… Hs… Ho… Hi…_

Naruto almost groaned loudly in aggravation, but held it in. The bottom drawer didn't contain _Ha_ names. He'd have to go through the middle one.

Life gave him a break and it opened quietly. Naruto quickly passed by the other files, starting at the top, at the names starting with _Ha_.

She was the third one in.

_Haruno, Sakura_

Naruto pulled it out with trembling fingers, laying it on the desk. It was still dark, so he moved towards the window, underneath the moonlight. Here, it was clearer. He could see the manila envelope with her name typed on it.

Naruto took a deep breath, then, he opened it.

* * *

><p>OOOOHHHHHH YOU'RE HANGING OFF A CLIFF RIGHT NOW MY FRIEND<p>

:D

Anyways, I hope you guys liked it! Took me long enough, right?

I'll try to update sooner. I'll really try.

Now you should just go

down here and

review

;D

V


	6. Discover

Woo! I thought I'd get this up before I left for my class trip. Gonna be gone for three days. And, on a side and somewhat related note, I'm almost done with school and then starting with the beginning of summer I'll start editing/rewriting that GaaSaku fanfic. :3 Hmmm I thought I was going ot say something else. Guess not.

I don't own the characters of Naruto. D:

OWWW MY FOOT HURTS. It fell asleep and it was all bent funny and oowwwww. :C

Well, enjoy!

* * *

><p><strong>CHAPTER 5: DISCOVER<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Name:<strong>_ Sakura Haruno_

**Sex:**_ Female_

**Birth date:**_ March 28__th_

**Age:**_16_

**Height:**_ 5'3"_

**Weight:**_ 100 lbs._

**Blood Type: **_O positive_

Naruto scanned through all of this stuff. He basically knew it – it didn't matter. He needed to know what happened.

**Entry Condition**

Naruto sucked in a sharp breath. He looked at the words scrawled underneath in pen, most likely written by Tsunade. If not, then Shizune.

_Unconscious. Low pulse._ _25% blood loss. Severe burns all over body – worst located on stomach, skin is charred + black. Left and right legs broken, right foot fractured. Severely bruised and cut. Patient's left side of face torn, exposing jaw, + left eye was not functioning._

Naruto took a deep breath. His hands were shaking – such a short little paragraph, but every word had helped form a picture in his head. A picture that he didn't want to see.

Naruto tried to keep himself focused, but his breathing was coming quick and heavy. Images flashed in his head. He forced himself to breath slowly; he needed to continue. There was no stopping now.

Naruto skimmed through the next part, which was about her progress since she was admitted. It pummeled at his hopes because there wasn't much happening, no improvement – they'd been pumping blood back into her, which was good, but she kept a low pulse and showed no signs of waking up.

Another deep breath. _Keep reading,_ he told himself.

The next paragraph was all about her medication and Naruto skipped right by that. Finally, at the bottom, was what he wanted to see.

**Reason of Injury (Injuries)**

He'd finally find out. He'd find out what happened.

Naruto dragged his eyes to the space below.

_Empty._

There was nothing but a diagonal slash through it.

Naruto felt tears of frustration well up in his eyes. He felt so angry that he was about to rip the document, but a little voice in his head gave him enough sense to stop him from destroying it.

Instead, he hurled it at the file cabinet and let out an angry sob. It hit with a small metallic clang that echoed in the night. Papers exploded from the folder, fluttering to the ground. Surely the doctors next door heard and would be there soon to get him and drag him to his room.

No one would tell him what happened. No one would let him see her. Everyone treated him like – like he was some mental patient!

Naruto waited for the light to flick on and the doctors to come in. He waited for the shouting and the dragging. He waited to be thrown back into his room.

Nothing happened.

He stood there, becoming confused. His fists relaxed.

Naruto calmed down enough to poke his head into the hallway. All the way down, in Sakura's room, the light was on and there was noise coming from inside and multiple shadows running across the floor.

Well, whatever had happened had given him a break. But at the same time, now he couldn't go see her.

Naruto picked up the papers, slowly rearranging them and putting the file back. He slid the drawer closed, not bothering to be quiet.

Then, he slipped out of the office and trudged to his room, falling into bed and trying to get to sleep with a blank mind.

* * *

><p>Naruto woke up feeling worse than ever.<p>

The lights were too bright. The sounds were too loud. His body ached too much. His stomach was too empty. His brain hurt too badly. His memories escaped him too many times.

Naruto suddenly noticed the nurse standing over him.

"Finally, you're awake!" she chirped, and Naruto's ears rang.

He rolled over in response.

"Oh, no you don't!" she replied, grabbing him and rolling him back. "Lady Tsunade told me that you needed to eat breakfast today. No more skipping meals."

Naruto perked up at the thought of food filling his stomach. He grudgingly sat up, pushing the sheet down to his waist.

The nurse went through the daily routine. Bring food, give pills. Done. Today, though, Naruto felt so terrible that he wondered if he actually should take the pills; they might help him.

Naruto stared at them, the little colorful capsules sitting in his hand. The nurse was talking to someone in the hall.

Naruto stuffed them under his mattress. _I'm not giving in now. No answers, no pills._

He had finished his breakfast in a matter of seconds, so the nurse cleaned up and left him alone, closing the door behind her. Naruto sighed as the noise of the hospital was cut off, snuggling back down into bed.

_One more try tonight,_ he told himself, then drifted off to sleep.

* * *

><p>Naruto woke up for lunch, feeling refreshed. It was the same process, as always, and Naruto didn't hesitate like the last time to stash the pills under his bed.<p>

After lunch, when the nurse was leaving with his empty tray, Kakashi and Sai walked in.

The nurse excused herself and went to the door, then yelped as she almost ran into someone else.

"Shikamaru!" Naruto exclaimed in surprise.

The tactics master nodded at him. "Naruto," he greeted solemnly, just like everyone but that one perky nurse did.

Sai and Shikamaru took the two guest chairs as Kakashi went to lean with his back to the window. They all stared at him.

"What is it?" Naruto asked hesitantly.

"We're worried about you, Naruto," Shikamaru said.

Naruto gave them a look. "Worried about me?"

The three exchanged their own look.

"Yes," Sai replied. "We're unsure of how you could… _react._"

Naruto stared at them, confused. They were acting strange.

"Get to the point," Naruto goaded.

Shikamaru sighed. "Fine. A patient reported seeing you sneaking around the hallway last night."

Naruto froze.

"You were going to see her, weren't you?"

Naruto didn't respond. He stared straight at the wall.

"Naruto," Kakashi began, "we've talked to you about this."

"Yeah," Naruto snapped, interrupting him before he could go on. "You've told me _so_ much."

"Naruto." It was Shikamaru this time. "Everyone's agreed that you can't see her. Not now, at least."

"Then when?" Naruto asked angrily. He tightened his hands and to fists, clenching the sheets.

No one answered. Naruto didn't expect them to.

"No one's giving me anything," Naruto continued. "I have a right to know! But no, everyone avoids all my questions and tries to stop me from seeing her."

"It's too much," Sai protested, though his face was still emotionless.

"_Why_ is it too much?" Naruto's voice had risen. His legs twitched with renewed energy.

"We don't know what seeing her could do to you."

"Then take me and you can find out." Naruto could just see that hallway, a straight shot down. His legs twitched again. Naruto grabbed the sheets.

"That's not possible. Right now we have to try and keep you away for your own safety –"

Shikamaru didn't get to finish. They were talking to him like a child, and it was too much - Naruto had thrown the sheets off his bed and bolted from the room.

He heard the others following him, but the hospital was crowded and he had squeezed past the crowd that the others got caught in. Naruto sped down the hall, just barely avoiding multiple collisions. He was almost to her room.

"Tsunade!" The shout came from Kakashi.

Naruto kept going. He realized why Kakashi had yelled that when he barreled into Sakura's room, straight in the Hokage and a team of doctors. They all reacted right as he came in, grabbing him and stopping him, holding his arms and trying to block his view.

But he'd seen it. He suddenly remembered how all the doctors in the lounge had left to go to Sakura's room. How strange was that? All of them, in the middle of the night? And now they were all here. He realized why.

Sakura was in critical condition.

Her heart monitor was beeping dangerously low, almost a long straight line. Her oxygen level beeped like crazy as it slowly dropped. Digital charts were flying up and down. Doctors were yelling.

"Sakura!" Naruto screamed before Tsunade got a hold of him and tossed him out of the door, slamming him into the wall across the hallway. He hit with a thud, sliding to the floor, winded.

"Get him out of here!" she roared. Men grabbed Naruto and began dragging him back to his room.

But once again, he had seen it. And Tsunade had seen it, too.

"Sakura!" he had shouted.

The line on her heart monitor had shot back up to normal for a split second.

It went back down as he was taken from the room.

Naruto allowed himself a small smile.

_I'm coming for you, Sakura._

* * *

><p>Hey, you. Yeah, you there. I see you.<p>

I know how you roll. Just adding this story to your favorites or your alert list.

And then what do you do? NOTHING.

YOU DON'T REVIEW.

EVERY TIME YOU DON'T REVIEW A BABY SEAL IS CLUBBED TO DEATH.*

Good job. Way to go. And every time a baby seal dies, a baby begins to cry.

SAVE THE SEALS – REVIEW MY STORY.

And come on, look! NEW REVIEW BUTTONS! You know you want to click it.

_*no animals were harmed in the making of this story_


	7. Escape

Haha, soooo I was putting off uploading this chapter because I thought I still had writing to do, but it turns out all I had to do was proof-read! XD BUT, NOW, SCHOOL IS OUT! Which means more time to write. :D

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Naruto. Go see a mental health doctor if you think I do.

* * *

><p><strong>CHAPTER 6: ESCAPE<strong>

* * *

><p>Naruto amused himself by pretending to be surprised as he woke up in his hospital bed.<p>

_Wha- how'd I get here? _He thought in a mock surprised voice.

It was dark now and Naruto assumed that he had been knocked out to prevent any trouble.

_What a nice hospital, _he thought sarcastically.

Naruto got up and went into the bathroom, splashing water on his face. He felt completely fine now, his muscles basically healed. There wasn't much aching anymore and no pain.

He highly doubted they'd let him out, though. Not now, anyways.

Naruto felt calm, sure of himself. Almost as though it was sent to him, he'd begun to think of a new plan even while he was sleeping. He sat back in his bed and thought it through more, going over it.

It would have to do. Right now there was no other way.

When the nurse brought dinner, Naruto acted weak. He made sure his hands shook slightly as he drank his soup. When he was done he flopped against the pillow and closed his eyes as though he was exhausted.

Naruto almost grinned as the nurse gave him a worried look and scribbled something down on her clipboard. The pills she gave him were hidden under the bed with the rest. She left.

Naruto almost laughed as he saw a guard stationed outside his door. _What, am I a criminal now?_

The guard was an obstacle in his plan. He'd have to wait longer now – he'd have to wait until the next night to begin.

Naruto settled back in bed, staring at his clothes – the orange jumpsuit – hanging on the hook on the wall.

He couldn't wait to get out of his hospital clothes and back into those.

_Soon, _he told himself.

* * *

><p>The next day, Naruto had everything sorted. He acted weak when people saw him. He hid the pills from all three meals under his mattress. He had worked on how to take care of the guard in his plan. He waited.<p>

No one would suspect anything.

Night came around.

Naruto had to wait even longer than he did before, waiting until the guard was bored and tired and possibly asleep. Naruto stayed in bed until a little after 1:00, then quietly slipped out, walking in silence to the door.

Naruto heard the soft snore coming from the guard and laughed in his mind. _What an idiot. _He slid the door open and chopped the guard in the back of the neck. The man went down, but Naruto caught him before he smacked against the floor.

Naruto carried him in, placing the guard in his bed and pulling the sheet up over him. Then Naruto grabbed his clothes off the wall, stripping himself of the hospital attire. When he was done he pulled his orange and black jacket on, zipping it up and moving his arms around in the sleeves. This was better. Much better.

Naruto walked into the bathroom – there was one last thing.

He grabbed the glass jar that held a toothbrush and other things, dumping them out into the sink. Then he carried the jar back into his room, reaching under the bed and grabbing all the hidden pills.

After pouring them all into the jar, Naruto took a moment to admire how it was nearly full. He set it down on his bedside table, grabbing a notepad and pen, putting them next to it. On the notepad, he wrote:

_Thanks for the pills, but you can keep these._

He added a little smiley face below that. He didn't bother to sign his name.

Naruto checked once more that the guard was out cold, then strode from the room. He walked confidently down the hallway – no more limping, aching, worrying.

He was a ninja.

He made it down the hall in no time and with no trouble. He approached the door cautiously. He had decided before that anyone in the room –whoever it may be- would be dealt with like the guard.

But Naruto got a break and the room was dark and silent. He slid open the door, stepped in, and closed it behind him.

It was dark. Almost pitch black, really, as Naruto moved towards her bed. He followed the blinking, beeping lights of the monitors and soon found the chair that sat next to her bed. He sat down. To his left was the nightstand with a lamp on it. He turned the light on. The sudden glow made him squint, and he shielded his eyes with his hand. He pulled his hand away.

And then, he saw her.

* * *

><p>The perky, bubbly nurse was on night duty.<p>

She was tired – the night shift wore even _her_ out. She had just finished taking a break and walked from the lounge, yawning. She checked the rooms as she walked down the hall, looking to see if anyone needed help.

She came up to Naruto's room and peeked inside. It was dark, but she could see the outline of a body sleeping on the bed. She shut the door, satisfied that everything was fine.

She was about to walk away when she realized that there wasn't a guard outside his door. She frowned.

_Probably in the bathroom,_ she thought, and continued on.

* * *

><p>Naruto sat on the chair. He was leaning forward, elbows on his knees and his fingers loosely laced together.<p>

He was calm. No, not calm – numb. When he looked at her, there were so many emotions that he just went numb inside.

He could barely comprehend them all. They were swirling in his mind, but he didn't feel them. They were just… _there._

He was shocked. The wounds were better, yet worse. They had healed slightly, with new pink skin forming around the edges and a think scab covering the cuts and gashes. Yet, at the same time, they weren't healing quickly. How long had she been in treatment? He didn't even know. Naruto scolded himself for not checking the date on her medical record.

Anger was strong inside him. He was trying to keep all of his emotions in check, but anger threatened to break out. He looked at Sakura and saw the one person he'd cared for his whole life. He saw her and knew that her face may be forever scarred. He saw her and knew that her limbs may never be the same. He saw her and knew that if she couldn't move efficiently, she couldn't be a ninja.

She'd lose her life, without actually dying.

When she woke up –_if she wakes up,_ a little voice in his head said- her whole life would be changed. There was no way around it. The anger in Naruto told him to punish whoever did this to her.

The monster in Naruto told him to_ kill _whoever did this to her.

Naruto buried his face in his hands, trying to snuff out the anger. He was so, so confused. Everyone acting the way they did wasn't helping, either. All of those hushed conversations, looks passed between each other, notes scribbled down; all the _secrets_. He didn't know what happened or how or why or _who did it_. He had been left wondering for so long. He felt like he could go crazy if he stayed here.

That's why he wasn't.

Naruto sat by Sakura's bed, taking in everything. He took note of every wound, from the largest gash to the smallest bruise. He watched the monitors. Most of all, he sat and stared at her face – the half he could see. Her beautiful face, with long eyelashes and flawless white skin, and then the strands of pink hair that hung in her face. Naruto reached forward to brush them away.

His fingertips ran across her forehead, brushing the hair to the side. It felt as though lightning was sparking from his touch – from touching _her_.

Naruto sat in silence. He sat with Sakura, imagining old times, wishing he wasn't here and seeing what he was seeing. He even wished that their roles were reversed.

At around 3:00, Naruto roused himself. He needed it to still be dark, and he didn't want to wait too long. Plus, the nurse made rounds around five, and he needed to have time.

Naruto stood up. He took a step towards the bed. Just to taunt her, Naruto leaned down, placing a gentle kiss on the non-bandaged skin of her forehead.

He pulled back.

_Come on, wake up and punch the living daylights out of me._

Naruto waited a moment.

Sakura didn't move.

Naruto sighed; it was as he expected. He turned the lamp off, night washing back over the room. He headed over to the window, where the full moon shone a square onto the floor.

Naruto opened the window, placing a foot on the sill. He looked over at Sakura, eyes bright from the moon.

"I'll be back," he whispered, and was out the window, disappearing in to the night.

* * *

><p>Dun dun duuuunnnnn!<p>

So, after my little baby seal thing on the last chapter, I seriously think more people reviewed.

SO, let's try another one!

Ahem.

HEY HEY HEY, WHOOOOAAAA. Where do you think you're going? :C

Did you know that every time you don't review, a female dog is killed and her litter of puppies are left alone to wander the streets in search of food, just trying to stay alive?

I bet you didn't.

So just

go down

here

and

review.

l

l

V


	8. Run

Heeeyyyy guys! :D What's sizzling, bacon? Mi bacones. Si si.

I'm updating! Woot-woot! And guess what? I got two puppies! :DDDDD

Oh my gosh, I just realized how ironic that is considering the ending author note on the last chapter. XDDDDDDDD ANYWAYS, tomorrow's also fathers' day and my mom accidentally bumped me and we dropped the mini cake we bought my dad... so... we're trying to fix it! Otherwise I got him a dart board and I'm excited because I think he'll be happy. :3

I guess I'll stop blabbering about my life and disclaim the characters of Naruto. I can only afford plotlines, so...

* * *

><p><strong>CHAPTER 7: RUN<strong>

* * *

><p>Naruto's feet thumped onto the ground below Sakura's window.<p>

A cool night breeze flew through the air, and Naruto inhaled deeply. After being cooped up inside it felt wonderful to be out and moving, stretching his muscles and breathing fresh air. It was dark, but the full moon lit the world up enough so that Naruto could see. He climbed to the roof of the building across the street, and took a moment to stand there, silhouetted by the moon.

Naruto looked out at the expanse of roofs and cables and streetlights. He couldn't see or sense a soul anywhere; right then, it was just him.

And he was escaping. He was free.

Naruto pushed off from the roof, jumping to the next one. He leaped through the town like a jaguar through a forest, his shoes barely staying on the roof for a second before moving on.

He needed to find the truth.

* * *

><p>The early morning sun shone rays of light into the hospital as the nurses went around doing the morning routine. They threw open the curtains and windows, letting in the chirping of birds. Patients greeted them with happy faces; it was a good day.<p>

The happy, bubbly nurse in charge of Naruto's section was making her way down the hall. All of her patients had been cooperative so far and the nice morning just made her even happier and even bubblier. She hummed a tune, some song about sunshine that she couldn't remember the name of.

She frowned, though, when she saw that yet again a guard wasn't posted in front of Naruto's door. _I'll have to have a word with Tsunade about that, _she thought. She headed into the room anyways, walking up to Naruto's bed.

"Naruto, time to wake up!" she chirped, holding his pill bottle. She began unscrewing the cap. It was strange that he was sleeping with the blanket pulled all the way over his head – he'd never done that before. Usually he was splayed all over the bed, limbs sticking out everywhere, blanket hanging off. Now he was sleeping straight, nonmoving, and the blanket pulled up.

He also hadn't woken up yet. The nurse began to worry that he got sick or his injuries had worsened.

"Naruto?" she said again, grabbing the sheet and pulling it down.

She gasped.

The pill bottle clattered to the floor, spilling the little capsules everywhere.

Lying in his bed was the guard, knocked out cold. He made an unconscious groan at the sudden light.

The nurse hurried to the bedside table, about to hit the alarm when she saw it – the little glass jar and the note.

_Thanks for the pills, but you can keep these._

She slammed her hand against the red button.

* * *

><p>Naruto came up to the wall around the city. He could see the gate– and the guards- up ahead, and veered to the right. It really wasn't hard to sneak out if you were a ninja; he'd discovered a hidden bit of crumbled rock when he was a kid. He'd cleared just enough away to squeeze through.<p>

Naruto ducked behind a house, crouching under a lighted window. He headed around the backyard fence and then down a narrow alley between the fence and the city wall. He eventually encountered a dumpster which he climbed over, and walked a little farther until he came up to a small, secluded spot past the houses and behind a tall fence behind a dumpster behind a factory that was barely even used. He barely fit into the space anymore.

Naruto could see the hole down low near the ground. He began clearing more debris away so he could fit his grown body through.

_Was I really that much of a pipsqueak?_ He thought as he removed the rocks. But Naruto remembered how he'd found the place; he had been running from Sakura when she was chasing him, trying to get a good punch in for one of the million comments he said that always seemed to anger her. He had fled and hid and eventually found the crumbled rock.

Back then, he never would have thought the he'd be using this again – and that Sakura would be so severely injured when he was. Or that he'd have to go search for what happened to her, or that they'd even be ambushed in the first place. Or that he'd be hunted down by his own friends after escaping (which he knew was bound to happen sooner or later). Or that he'd ever have to "_escape_" from Konoha.

Naruto was finally able to squeeze out, brushing the dirt off his clothes as he stood up in the forest outside the city. He took in the tall green trees and the shrubs and bushes that littered the ground.

There was a lot he never would have thought would happen.

* * *

><p>Tsunade, Kakashi, and Sai raced into the room. The nurse stood off to the side, shuffling her feet in worry.<p>

They all stared at the man in the bed, and the lack of a blonde haired boy. The room was silent as they took it in.

Tsunade snatched up the glass jar of pills. "He wasn't taking his pills!" she growled, turning on the nurse. "These were supposed to slow him down and prevent this from happening!"

"I-I'm sorry!" she squeaked. "I could have sworn he took them every time! He seemed pretty weak before, too, so I assumed he did."

"Naruto's smarter than you think," Kakashi sighed.

"Yeah yeah," Tsunade agreed grudgingly, staring at the guard Naruto had used as a decoy. "Clearly he thought this through."

"Do you think he just left the hospital?" Sai asked. "Or did he go to…" he trailed off as the realization hit the others.

"Sakura!" Tsunade shouted, turning on heel and racing out the door. The other two understood and followed her down the hall to Sakura's room, bursting in.

Sakura was lying there, unmoving, like normal. No one else was in the room – nothing stirred.

A breeze blew in from the open window that wasn't open before.

Tsunade took a deep breath to calm herself.

"Kakashi, Sai, go get Kiba and Akamaru," she said, her voice low as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "Leave immediately and try to catch up with that damn kid."

* * *

><p>Naruto tried to stay low as he headed away from the city, jumping through the trees with stealth. The sun was starting to peek out on the horizon, which meant that soon other shinobi would be heading out on morning missions. He needed to get as far as he could before he even thought about taking a break.<p>

Naruto knew where to go and what to do – it was all a part of his plan. He'd thought everything through, all possibilities. He wouldn't be stopped.

No one could stop him from finding out.

* * *

><p>"We only came for Kiba," Kakashi repeated, standing with his arms crossed.<p>

They all looked at him defiantly.

"You could use our help," Chouji argued, copying Kakashi's pose.

"We're all Naruto's friends," Lee added. "We must go find him!" He mumbled something about youth and beautiful cherry blossoms after that.

"Plus," Shikamaru drawled in a bored tone, "he needs to be stopped and brought back before he finds out. Who knows what will happen if he does?"

"Kakashi and I are capable of doing that ourselves," Sai said.

"We were the Sasuke Retrieval Team," Neji said. "Now let us be the _Naruto_ Retrieval Team."

Shino nodded in agreement. Akamaru barked.

"Fine," Kakashi agreed, turning and already walking away. "But we need to go now. We've already lost enough time as it is."

Their new makeshift team headed for the hospital where Akamaru and Kiba would pick up Naruto's scent trail. They started inside in his room and people made way as Kiba rode Akamaru down the hallway. They followed the trail easily into Sakura's room and out the window onto the road below. Kiba sniffed the air and Akamaru ran his nose along the ground. Naruto's scent was hard to catch due to the travel of people across the road that morning, but finally they made their way up to the roof of the building across the street.

"We've got it!" Kiba howled as Akamaru reared back on his hind legs. He flashed his canines in a grin. "Let's go!"

* * *

><p>Naruto's legs felt weak and his lungs burned.<p>

_Okay, so maybe this has been a little too much fresh air and muscle stretching,_ he thought.

He decided that since he was pretty far from the city he could take a breather in a nearby bush or something. He ended up finding a better hiding spot, a hollowed out and fallen tree trunk. He climbed, in, lying there and letting his legs rest and his breathing regulate. At one point he thought he heard someone, but if he did, no one came near his hiding spot. When he was well rested Naruto paused to listen for any signs of life before hauling himself out of the trunk. He set back off, though now distancing himself from where he heard the noises.

Naruto realized how boring and lonely it was to tree travel by yourself. There were no competitions, or races, or chats, or even just talking, or even just someone else _being there_.

Naruto shook the thoughts out of his head. He needed to focus on his task.

After more traveling (and more anxious boredom) Naruto found an end to the trees. He slowed down, seeing the light ahead. He knew what was past there.

He had arrived at the place where he and Sakura had been ambushed.

Naruto jumped to the ground and walked out into the light.

* * *

><p>Yeah, not my best chapter, I have to say... and I keep getting conflicting reviews of people saying that my chapters are longer than what they're used to, and then people saying they're shorter than what they're used to. D: I can not please you all, I am sorry! T.T<p>

I thought there was something else I was going to say... I guess not, except of course:

If you don't review, my two new puppies are going to get loose, come to your house, and then pee on all your precious family pictures and chew on all your expensive clothes and electronics.

:D

Eeeewww I just coughed and accidentally spit on my laptop. And I'm super hungry even though it's almost midnight. And I just remembered what I wanted to say, I hate the image manager thing! :C So I just made my icon white so it's all just blank. XD

GO REVIEW!

[BTW, my puppies are Mario (a boy border collie mix) and Sandy (a girl beagle/corgi we think) so yeah. :D]


	9. Travel

Sooo I finally updated and it took me a while because this chapter doesn't have a lot in it (you can tell by the chapter title) so I wrote the next one and all I have to do is read it over and edit you know, and then I'll post it too! :D

By the way did you guys know you can review your own stories? XD

Aaaannndddd I do not own the series Naruto, but you leggo my plot-to.

(lame jokes are lame)

**ALSO, IF YOU HAVE NOT READ UP TO CHAPTER 291 OR WATCHED UP TO EPISODE 40 OF NARUTO SHIPPUDEN THEN THERE WILL BE *SPOILERS* IN THIS CHAPTER. AVOID THEM BY NOT READING THE PIECES IN _ALL ITALICS_ BETWEEN TWO LINES, THOSE ARE QUOTES.**

Anyone reading this probably knows what happened though... but just in case!

* * *

><p><strong>CHAPTER 8: TRAVEL<strong>

* * *

><p>Akamaru barked before jumping out of the trees with Kiba on his back, landing on the ground. He began to circle a fallen tree trunk that was hollow on the inside.<p>

"Naruto must have stopped to rest here," Kiba decided after Akamaru got a closer sniff inside and howled. The dog-boy looked out into the trees. "We can't be too far off now."

Kakashi nodded, already springing back into the branches. Leaves fell down onto the others behind him. "Then let's hurry."

* * *

><p>Naruto stood there, staring.<p>

His breaths were coming a little shaky. His feet weren't moving. His whole body was frozen like a rock - except his eyes.

Naruto looked out around the landscape. Trees were burned at the edge of the forest, mere black branches stuck in the ground and scattered around Rocks were everywhere, ranging from pebble-like debris to boulders.

Most of all, there was that giant crater that Naruto had seen once before; as though a giant hand had taken a scoop out of the earth. The crater stretched far, and was deeper than six shinobi standing on each other's shoulders.

_This crater looks so similar to… before…_ he thought.

That was a time he didn't want to go back to.

His mind took him there unwillingly though. A little voice in the back of his head began whispering to him, connecting dots and giving theories. It hissed what he didn't want to think about.

* * *

><p>"<em>The ground's still fresh…" Naruto said, inspecting the dirt. "First the bridge is destroyed, then this crater here… What on earth happened?"<em>

_Yamato looked at him. "You remember nothing?"_

"_Oh yeah… How come I was unconscious and all?"_

* * *

><p>A growl escaped Naruto's throat as he pushed the memories away.<p>

_No,_ he thought. _This wasn't me – not again._

But the little voice continued to tell him that it was, that it had to be. There were all the similarities; the crater, the land around it destroyed, the loss of memory.

All signs pointed to him.

"No," Naruto said, out loud this time, as though it would make a difference. _I'm not giving up just yet, _he continued in his head. He clenched his fists as the voice told him that he should give up because he already knew what happened.

Naruto ignored it.

He pushed forward, snaking through the trees alongside the crater, staying far enough back to where the live and healthy ones gave better cover.

He headed for the direction that the ambush had come from.

He headed for the ones he believed to have hurt Sakura.

* * *

><p>Naruto cursed.<p>

He thought that when he had crossed that small hill, he'd see a large fortress or something of the sort, barge in, and get some answers.

As he stood at the top of that hill, all he saw was more trees. He groaned.

_I've never hated trees so much in my life,_ Naruto grumbled in his mind. _It's so lonely traveling by myself._

Naruto traveled a little farther, as straight as he could. After an about an hour, though, he began to grow tired as the sky darkened. He decided he needed to rest, but first he shimmied up the tallest tree he could find.

First, Naruto judged from the sun's position how much daylight he had left to travel by; not much. About half an hour, which (after looking in the direction he was heading) would only get him a little bit deeper into the forest.

But there, a small gray speck on the horizon, was something. Naruto assumed it was the enemy, and set its location in his mind. He stared at the trees, looking for anything unique he could use as a landmark. There was nothing.

Before he climbed back down, Naruto glanced to the rear, looking out at the land he had traveled. He searched with his eyes and probed as far as he dared with his chakra, but he didn't find anyone.

_Are they coming after me?_ Naruto wondered. He still couldn't see over that hill, though; for all he knew his friends and teammates could be standing right behind it.

Naruto sighed and climbed back down, jumping the last twenty feet. He figured he might as well make the best out of that half hour and set off, walking on the ground this time. Sooner than he'd thought, the sun began to set, shrouding the forest in darkness.

Naruto couldn't find another hollowed out tree trunk, so he had to make do with squeezing between some large rocks and behind a big fluffy bush that hid him pretty well.

Naruto rolled onto his back, staring at the stars that had begun to appear. It didn't take long for his eyes to drift closed and he slept. At first, his mind was a blank, black space, but a dream- a memory- slowly began to form.

* * *

><p><em>Naruto was unconscious, lying on his back on the hard ground. His mind was black and his whole body hurt with a fiery pain. Then he realized he could feel, and that his mind had awakened. A warmness on his chest spread throughout his whole body – he assumed it was chakra. He was being healed.<em>

_Naruto woke up from his unconscious state._

"_Sa… Sakura…" Naruto said. She was the first thing he saw; her beautiful face with smooth features, glowing green eyes staring at him and pink hair hanging down. He was so glad he had awakened to her, because that meant that she was alright. He began to sit up and pain hit him hard. "Ou… ouch-ouch-ouch…"_

"_Naruto…" Sakura's voice was strained._

"_Huh?" Naruto said. "What the… What happened to me?" He suddenly noticed her. "Eh? Why are you crying, Sakura?"_

* * *

><p>Naruto woke up with a start. Sakura was there, hanging over him as he woke up. Just like she had before, just like in his memory. She smiled at him. Naruto reached a hand up to touch her face.<p>

A wind blew and she vanished with it.

Naruto held back a sob. The hallucination of her was gone, and he felt cold inside.

The night had somehow sped by and light was seeping through the trees above him as Naruto rolled over on the ground, his body stiff. Birds tweeted morning songs in the trees as Naruto pushed himself up and looked around, a small piece of him hoping to see her.

He didn't.

For the first time since it all started, Naruto felt like he could let a few tears out.

Naruto closed his eyes and ran a hand over his face. _Her_ face flashed in his mind – the bright green eyes, beautiful smile, soft pink hair…

Naruto jumped into the trees and sped off, not bothering to set a pace. He traveled as fast as he could - he needed to get those answers and get back to her.

He was going to be the first one she saw, like she had been for him.

When she woke up, Naruto was going to be there for her.

* * *

><p>Kiba pulled Akamaru to a halt, staring. He began slowly sliding off the dog's back. The rest of his team slowed down, coming to a gradual stop in a line next to him.<p>

They were standing at the edge of the crater - at the edge of the destruction.

"This… was Naruto?" Chouji asked.

"Yes," Kakashi answered quietly.

"Seeing this... Sakura's current state doesn't come as a surprise," Shikamaru decided, looking out over the wreckage.

"Is he here?" Lee asked, jumping on a nearby boulder and looking around. "Is he here?"

"I doubt it," Kiba said. "Neji?"

Neji nodded and activated his Byakugan. His eyes scanned the area. The veins around his eyes relaxed.

"Well?"

"We better keep moving."

* * *

><p>Naruto was being smart.<p>

He wished that someone was there, just so that he could show-off a little. He had been wandering through the trees, often losing his path, wandering in the wrong direction, and having to backtrack.

So now he was making his own path to follow. He climbed to the top of the tallest tree he could find nearby, and took out all the explosive kunai he had. He threw them out, straight ahead of him so that they would stick and explode, creating a marker for a path. He threw one pretty close, then one some distance away from that one, until he'd thrown as far as he could in the direction of what he could tell was a castle-like fortress.

Naruto climbed down and walked forward, congratulating himself when he reached his first checkpoint. He found the kunai, which was now normal, and stuck it back in his pack. When he got to the fifth checkpoint he would be halfway to the fortress, and then he'd climb up and throw more. Then, he'd be there.

Naruto grinned, heading for the second checkpoint.

_I'm so smart, _he thought. _If only Iruka could see me now. I wonder if even Shikamaru would have thought to do that._

Thinking of his friends made him wonder if they really were coming after him. He glanced backwards before picking up his pace.

He needed to get there, just in case.

* * *

><p>Wooo! That was soooo exciting, huh? See, I didn't want to give you guys this after so long and then be like "HAHA now you have to wait even longer for something to actually happen!"<p>

LOL here's my random update about my life which none of you actually care about~

Unrequited crushes. D': They hurt your heart, man.

BOOHOOHOOOOOO. I AM SAD. KIND OF.

Just so you guys know, it's so easy to review now, I mean, a new window doesn't even open up! WOW!

Sooooooooo

noooow

gooo

REVIEW!


	10. Truth

Sooooo in all the reviews for the last chapter everyone was just like "Oh, you finally updated! It's been so long!" and I was like "Really?" because it didn't feel like that long, so I checked and it had been a month and one day... you may throw your tomatoes and other rotten fruits at me now.

But see? I told you I'd update today! I didn't want you guys to hate me too too much, so yeah. XD

And I have a little shout-out to a guest reviewer: Hey, "**Megatron**", I would really appreciate it if you stopped telling me that my chapters are too short, because I have gotten that from you just about every single chapter. They are what they are, I get them up to a certain amount of words and then write until a good cut-off point. Ok? Because I truthfully don't think it would matter at all if you were reading this story when it was complete compared to when you have to wait for the chapter to come out.

**Also, beware of the last part of this chapter that is in _all italics_! If you have not read up to chapter 291 or watched up to episode 40 of Naruto Shippuden, it will be a spoiler. But I doubt it will spoil it for any of you.**

I don't own the series Naruto kasdnflnkjdsf *SOB*.

So enjoy my pitiful fanfiction instead.

(DAT TITLE DOWN THERE OOOHHH)

* * *

><p><strong>CHAPTER 9: TRUTH<strong>

* * *

><p>Naruto watched the fortress from a distance. It was quiet. He couldn't see or sense any guards patrolling, and there wasn't much noise. He could tell there were people inside, though.<p>

Naruto glanced around one last time before darting across the open space between the trees and the fortress. He got around to the side where there was less light from the setting sun and- concentrating chakra into his feet- ran straight up the stone wall, avoiding the windows. He reached the top, landing on the edge, and he cursed under his breath in surprise, almost falling backwards. Right in front of him was a guard sleeping in a chair.

Naruto grabbed the stone wall to keep himself from falling, then carefully lowered himself down and crept around the guard. He was a good sign though – the guard being up here meant that there was probably a place to enter the fortress from the roof. Sure enough, he found a wood door in the concrete that had stairs underneath it. Naruto entered quietly, taking a last glance to check that the guard was still asleep before closing the hatch.

It was dark. Naruto blindly walked down the steps, occasionally coming upon a torch hanging on the wall. He almost ran into the door at the bottom since it was so dark, but noticed it just in time. He stopped, listening closely.

He couldn't hear any voices or movement. Naruto opened the door, poking his head in first. He found himself in a small room, a fireplace in the wall serving as the only light source. There was a table and two chairs. Naruto closed the door behind him and walked across the room to another, listening for anyone once again; he didn't hear anyone, once again.

Naruto walked out into a well lit hallway. It was tall and skinny with torches and windows along its length. Naruto looked left and right, seeing no one. He chose to go right.

Naruto was starting to get wary. He had walked all along the hallway, past what seemed to be all the sleeping quarters, and didn't see a soul.

Finally he came to another set of steps. They were narrow and went up, making him wonder if they went back to the roof. He ascended them and instead found himself in a narrow catwalk-like hallway. It was empty, and he crept to the edge, peeking out over the wall.

Naruto's eyes went wide.

Below him was a large room, long and wide and high. Torches lined the walls, the flickering flames casting moving shadows.

The room was crowded with cots, close to a hundred, all crammed against each other to fit in the room. There was a man in every single one, with only a few people in white coats actually up and running around to different beds. There was equipment in the room that Naruto recognized.

Naruto's hands began to shake as he stood up straighter, looking out at all the men. The ones up and running about were so busy they didn't even notice him.

All of the men were all terribly injured, moans of pain drifting through the air. Blood stained the white sheets, body parts were at impossible angles. A scream echoed throughout the room, sending jolts up Naruto's spine. His heart was pounding. Some of the men appeared to be in comas; others just couldn't move due to their injuries; the rest might as well have been dead from what he could see. Naruto knew where he was.

He was in their hospital.

There was the noise of beeping heart monitors, even though they clearly didn't have enough for all the men who needed one. The noise took a hold of Naruto's mind and in a flash he was standing in Sakura's hospital room, seeing her lying there severely injured. When he came back to the present, he just saw the same thing multiplied by a hundred lying in front of him. It was clear that both the men and Sakura had been injured by the same person – _or thing._

Another scream of pain ripped through the air, and all the men in white coats went running to the source.

_It all adds up,_ that little voice whispered in Naruto's head. He was beginning to hate the voice. He hated how it told him that he was the one who did this.

"No," Naruto whispered in disbelief. His hands still shaking, and jumped up and over the wall, falling and landing hard on the floor of the hospital. All the men in white coats turned to him in surprise. They saw him. Their eyes went wide with fear.

"Run!" One of them shouted and they all started maneuvering around the cots as fast as they could.

Naruto started heading towards them.

"Stop!" Another one shouted. "Don't hurt us!"

"Leave these men alone! Don't hurt them again!"

Naruto stood frozen for a moment, anguish grabbing his heart.

_They recognize me. They think I'm going to hurt them. They think that I hurt all of these men._

_I told you_, the voice answered smugly.

Naruto finally moved and was in front of the men in a second. A grabbed the nearest one by his white coat while the rest ran off.

"What happened?" Naruto shouted in his face, his grip hard on the man's collar. "Who hurt these men?"

The man stared at him with large eyes full of fear, making small noises like he was choking on his own words.

"WHO?" Naruto shouted again, pulling the man's coat tighter and getting right up in his face.

"Y… you," the man finally choked out.

Naruto's head spun as he let the man go and fall to the floor. His vision flashed black before returning to normal.

_I hurt all these men. I did this. This was all me._

The man started crawling backwards away from Naruto. Naruto hurriedly grabbed him.

"Wait! What about the girl?" Naruto asked, trying to take a calmer route, as though he could convince the man he didn't mean any harm. He realized he wasn't really calm, though, just filled with such a vast amount of apprehension that he could hardly he get his words out.

He _needed_ to know.

"T-the girl?" the man repeated. "We only have men."

"No, she was with me," Naruto explained, shaking the man as though to jog his memory. "Pink hair, green eyes, red shirt…"

"Oh, her," the man said, his face draining of color. His eyes flicked over to the exit; he was anxious to leave.

"You saw her?" Naruto asked, his grip tightening. He felt so overwhelmed by the fact that _he still didn't know_.

"Yes," the man said. His hand was slowly reaching over to a metal table with tools on it. "She… she was in bad shape… I saw her when we were gathering our own men."

Naruto's was getting impatient, his mind filled with too many thoughts and unanswered questions. He shook the man again. "And your men were the ones who hurt her, right? _Right?_"

The man's hand closed around a scalpel on the metal table, unnoticed to Naruto who was too caught up in what he was saying.

"I… I don't-"

"No," a quiet voice rasped from behind them. Naruto wheeled around, his grip loosening on the man in the white coat.

"What? What did you say?" Naruto asked. His heart was pounding in his chest, filling his ears.

"No, we only… we only stabbed her once," the man continued, his words scratchy and barely coming out. "The… the one who _really_ hurt her… was that _monster_…"

The man with the raspy voice turned his one good eye to Naruto.

"_You._"

* * *

><p>"<em>Naruto! For the remainder of the battle, I'll be taking Sai's place as your partner. While we have time, let's decide upon out attack pattern… can you come over here for a bit?"<em>

"_Gotcha!" Naruto replied, following Yamato._

_Yamato glanced back to make sure that Sakura was out of earshot as she sat against a tree, healing her arm._

"_Great, so what should we do first?" Naruto asked._

"_Before that, there's something that I need to discuss with you," Yamato said._

_Naruto gave a questioning look. Yamato stepped closer to him._

"_The one who hurt Sakura… was you Naruto."_

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><p>Wooooooo! How's that for uploading quickly~? And a whopper of a chapter too! I think. I don't know.<p>

Hehe I went and got my hair done today so it's extra clean and shiny and smooth and the lady straightened it super good and cut it so I feel so purty~~

Then tonight I'll shower with my regular shampoo and it will dry weird or something and I'll just be like FUUUUUUUUU-

So ya, man. We like da reviews, man. Da reviews make happy.

I'll reply to them all after I get the wave from this chapter, that why I can sit down and just do some mega review-replying time!

NOW GET OUTTA HERE AND REVIEW THIS DANG CHAPTER YOU SON OF A BUTCHER


	11. Out of Mind

**Guys, I am so so so extremely sorry about the extremely late update.** Forgive me. D: But I wasn't just ignoring it and blowing it off or anything, I was thinking about it... but anyways, it's EXCUSE TIME!

Ok, so after I posted the last chapter...

I was gone for two weeks (no laptop or internet or anything)

After that I had marching band practice during the day and was preparing for school

School started (I'm a freshman in highschool, so it was a big beginning)

I'm at school all day then band practice after school on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Fridays are the football games that I participate in for band.

HOMEWORK

And then once everything was kind of settled down (even though I was still busy) my best friend of about eight years had to get back surgery because her skiliosis (curved spine) got too bad. She was in the hospital for a week and has been out of school for a month, she's still recovering. I visited her a lot. Give me crap about this and I will not be kind.

I had been thinking about the story a lot and had a three-day weekend coming up! Buuut still no. My cousin got married on Saturday, so that day was mostly taken up and then Friday (when we had off) I woke up later than usual, got ready and went straight to my friend's house (the one who had the surgery) just to visit and do her nails for the wedding. Then my mom picked me up and we helped decorate for the wedding, and we got home, I got ready for band, and went to the football game. Then Saturday was the wedding so I had a lot of stuff to do in the morning and we left at like 2 and didn't get home until midnight. And so on Sunday I had to do a whole book project that I had put off. The book was hard to get into. :P So I had to finish reading it, do the whole project on it, and then I had church too and other homework.

So then finally that's all over and band's ending and I want to write and guess what? Left my clarinet sitting outside the school. Laptop taken away for two weeks.

EXCUSES EXCUSES EXCUSES

I AM THE EXCUSE QUEEN :D

I have to admit guys that I probably could have updated sooner if I really tried and had more of a want to write. But on my down time I didn't really want to write, so I didn't.

I love you all soooo much, and I will have more time to write because not only do I have my laptop back but my friend is better and marching band is over.

Anyways, enjoy!

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><p><strong>CHAPTER 10: OUT OF MIND<strong>

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><p>Blank.<p>

Numb.

_Nothing._

Naruto's senses were all of those. The only thing he thought was, _I hurt her. _The only thing he saw was her. The only thing he heard was her laugh. The only thing smelled was cherry blossoms.

The man in the white coat gave a battle cry, lifting the scalpel above his head and plunging it into Naruto's shoulder, dragging the blade down his orange-covered arm. The fabric of his jacket tore and blood spurted out.

The man watched Naruto, ready for him to counter-attack.

Naruto's arm dropped to his side, letting go of the man. He didn't move. He didn't acknowledge his new injury. The man watched warily for another second then took off out of the room.

Naruto was only thinking of Sakura. The man with the raspy voice lying on the cot stared at Naruto's numb expression.

"It was you," he said again, knowing that this was hurting the boy in the orange. He wanted the boy to pay for what he did. "You turned… into a monster, the Nine-Tails they called it. You started to… to _destroy_ us… after we attacked her. You were _merciless_. So she… tried to stop you."

Suddenly the happy images and senses of Sakura were gone. Suddenly the only thing he thought was, _Kill. _The only thing he saw was carnage. The only thing he heard was screams of pain and mercy. The only thing he smelled was blood.

"I don't know… what happens when you turn into that… that _thing_," the man continued to rasp out, "but you didn't recognize her… you just treated her like… she was one of us. You tossed her around… like she was a puppet, you… broke her bones, tore into her-" The man had a sudden coughing fit. "Into her flesh… she screamed, and _all you did was grin…_"

"Stop," Naruto whispered, his eyes wide but not seeing anything. His mind was reeling, little bits of images and moments flashing in his mind's eye for just a moment before slipping out of his grasp.

"She was worse than the rest of us," the man continued, loving the pain he saw in Naruto's eyes. "Our doctors… almost couldn't tell who she even was… when they came to retrieve all our bodies…"

More uncovered images ran through Naruto's head; blood and claws and _her_. Feelings from that time surfaced with the images.

"Stop," Naruto repeated, louder, not wanting to get overwhelmed with more memories.

"Yeah," another man in the cot next to him said. "You should stop… look at him."

A faint red-orange glow had begun to sizzle around Naruto. His fingernails itched outwards, wanting to become claws.

The man with the raspy voice looked with wide eyes. "Get out."

Naruto didn't move, trying to calm himself.

"Get out!" the man screamed in his raspy voice, making it not much of a scream at all. But it snapped something in Naruto, the orange extending outwards, his eyes flashing between red and blue, his fingernails extending. He ran from the hospital room on all fours, running blindly around the fortress until he burst out of it. He ran through the trees at full speed, as though he could run from the truth and then reoccurring memories of that day.

The chakra seeping out of him gave him speed and agility. Naruto dodged the trees and jumped over rocks. He made it through the forest quicker and easier than before, soon coming up to the hill that cut it off. He raced up and it leapt from the top, arms extended outwards and his legs behind him, ready to land back on all fours.

Time slowed as he looked down.

At the bottom of the hill were his friends. They stared up at him in alarm, then their expressions changed to recognition and surprise.

"_There he is!_" one of them shouted, but Naruto didn't know who for he had already landed on the ground behind them and took off across the scarred land. They gave pursuit, but they were no match for Naruto in his Nine-Tails state.

* * *

><p>"I can't believe we lost him!" Kiba growled, banging his fist against a tree as him and the rest of the team stood around, panting for breath. "He was right there and now he's gone again! Some ninjas we are!"<p>

"Calm down. Naruto has more chakra and power than anyone when he's in the state," Shikamaru reasoned. "It's really not a surprise that he could simply outrun us."

"What's our plan now?" Chouji asked.

Kakashi sighed, looking off into distance where Naruto had disappeared from them. The sun had set and the moon was appearing in the sky. "Well, I don't see much reasoning in going after him. We're all tired out and in no shape to confront him as the Nine-Tails. If Yamato was here, then maybe, but we might as well head back. It's getting dark."

"But what about Naruto?" Lee pushed, gesturing to where the blonde had escaped them. "He could be doing damage as the Nine-Tails right now, and who knows if we'll ever even see him again?"

Kiba nodded slowly. "How can we be sure… that he'll come back?"

"He'll come back," Kakashi assured, a small hidden smile coming to his face. "He's never been able to stay away from her."

* * *

><p>The sun was rising when Naruto woke up.<p>

His head throbbed as he pushed himself up from the ground. Birds chirped in the trees around him as morning sunlight shone through the leaves of the trees, dappling the ground. Nothing around Naruto looked familiar, and for a moment he had no clue how he'd even got there.

Naruto sat up and took a deep breath. He let the memories of the night before seep into his brain and wash over him, taking deep, calming breaths to keep the Nine-Tails down. His legs ached from running all night. Naruto's mind whirled with thoughts now that the initial shock was over, and he went to rub his head when he realized it pained him to move his arm. He looked at the ripped fabric of his jacket and pulled it aside to see the jagged gash in his arm. He recalled the man slicing at him with a scalpel, and pulled out what little medical supplies he had.

As he did what he could and bandaged his wound, Naruto unconsciously thought, _I wish Sakura was here to heal this._

At that, he froze, the bandaged half-wrapped around his arm. He thought about how badly _she_ needed healing.

"I need… to help her…" Naruto's voice came out quiet yet forceful. He quickly finished wrapping his arm, tying the bandage tight.

He then picked himself up and began walking. He didn't know where he was or where he was going, but walked with a purpose because he knew he would eventually find something.

Naruto's brain worked to find a way that Naruto could help Sakura.

* * *

><p>Eeekk, sorry it's pretty short, I'm kind of stumped though on what's going to happen next so I need to think about it. If anyone has any ideas or suggestions, I'll listen. They might even just help me think.<p>

I will write more now though!

For every review I get I will open up the document this story is in and write at least a sentence or two. XD

Please continue to love meee. T.T I don't want to lose all my wonderful reviewers and followers~ D':


	12. Village in the Trees

AAAWW YEEAAHH look at that. Chapter up in less than two weeks because I totally owed you guys after not updating for a while because of my life getting in the way.

I know this one is short because I just wanted to end it there, that's why I uploaded the next one which is longer.

I coughed up like 3000 words guys. Woot woot.

Me no own Naruto. Me poor. Me can only afford plot.

Enjoy! :D

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><p><strong>CHAPTER 11: VILLAGE IN THE TREES<strong>

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><p>Hours of walking.<p>

No luck.

At one point, Naruto had become so frustrated that he took off in a blind sprint, but it got him nowhere- even more lost, if it was possible. He didn't think of it as lost really – _trapped_ was more like it. He was trapped by trees, see nothing but trees and a mountain range in the far, far off distance. Everywhere he went there were trees. When he turned back there were trees. Just trees that never ended.

Naruto began to grow more and more frustrated, and the voice in the back of his mind talked about how, while Naruto was out there, wandering around, Sakura could be dying – _was_ dying for all he knew.

Naruto whacked himself in the head. _Shut up. I'm trying_.

Earlier, when Naruto was thinking, his mind wandered back to when he and Sakura were children; when life was simpler. As he thought of that time, he remembered something - he'd always heard about these growing up- little towns out in the wilderness, not really a part of any country. The folk lore said that these villages tended to have amazing healers, telling of miracles that they performed and the medical power they wielded. They lived in these neutral towns to not give any one country an advantage. Many scoffed at the idea of them, though, claiming them as fairy tales.

Naruto had hoped to find one. It was still his only hope.

The little voice in the back of his mind rambled about all the terrible things that could be happening to Sakura – bleeding to death, heart stopping, breath ceasing, infection, _death_. Naruto knew that Tsunade, even with help from their mediocre medical team, couldn't save Sakura. She'd need someone almost as equally powerful to heal her.

Naruto could only think of two others that would have been able and willing to heal someone in such critical condition – Chiyo of the Sand Village, who was dead, and Sakura, the one who was in the critical state.

That's why Naruto saw this _myth_ as his last and only hope.

_Desperate times call for desperate measures,_ Naruto thought, biting his thumb and forming the correct seals to call Gamabunta.

The giant, red toad appeared, immediately whipping out his katana and looking for danger.

There were trees.

"Kid," the toad sighed, putting his katana away, "why did you call me?"

"It's important, I swear!" Naruto shouted. He jumped up the toad's back, landing on his head where he could speak to him easier. "I've been out here wandering around forever, and with you I can travel faster and see farther."

"So you're just using me as a horse," Gamabunta deadpanned.

Naruto laughed, a small, strange noise coming out of his mouth. He wasn't sure when the last time he laughed was.

"Have you… heard about Sakura?" Naruto asked.

The toad rolled a great eye up towards him. When he spoke, his voice was gentler. "Yeah, kid. Why?"

"I need to find a healer, to help her," Naruto explained. "There should be a small villages around here somewhere, one with an amazing medic!"

Gamabunta chuckled. "Those are wise-tales, Naruto."

Naruto banged his fist on the top of Gamabunta's head. "It's the only chance I've got! Please, help me!"

"Fine, kid. You better hold on."

Naruto barely had time to conduct chakra down to his hands and feet to hold on when the toad sprung thousands of feet up into the air. Naruto forced himself to open his eyes and look around; in the distance behind him, he could see the clearing where the battle had taken place. Up ahead and around him, though, he could see nothing but trees.

"There's nothing here!" Naruto shouted. "Head west, and don't jump so high next time!"

Gamabunta grumbled.

* * *

><p>Smoke.<p>

When Naruto spotted it, he whooped with joy and hollered to Gamabunta, sending the toad in the right direction. Naruto kept his eyes trained on the curling black gas rising up into the sky. Gamabunta hopped nearer to it, then stopped. Naruto fidgeted with excitement as he could now see the tips of makeshift buildings.

"Come on!" Naruto urged, confused as to why the toad had stopped.

Gamabunta rolled his eyes up to Naruto who was standing on his head. "You idiot, you want me to jump over there and squash the whole village?"

"Oh, yeah…"

Gamabunta sighed. "I'll leave then, it seems pretty promising. Call me back if you need me. Please, don't need me."

Naruto jumped down from the toad's head and he disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Naruto pushed through the trees and foliage towards the village, excitement goading him into a run. He slowed as the trees thinned out, stumps scattered across the ground from the people using the trees for wood. Naruto broke forward into the clear area where he could see it – _the village_.

In front of him was a small, tribal-like village with shacks and huts. At the opposite end of it, Naruto could see a larger, temple-like building with a pathway leading up to it. Smoke rose from a couple of the huts with open tops, a stream splashed nearby, and some makeshift child toys were lying in the dirt.

But no one was there.

Hopelessness struck Naruto in the chest and he stumbled forward.

"Hello?" he said, quietly at first because the village was silent.

It remained silent.

"Hello?" he repeated with more force. "Hello? Hello? HELLO?"

Silence.

Naruto clenched his fists and turned his face to the sky. "IS ANYONE HERE?" he screamed.

About ten tribal warriors jumped out and surrounded him, handmade weapons pointed at his neck.

Naruto gave a feeble grin. "Found you."

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><p>Hehe, good job Naruto. xD You know, when I was writing this one I had realized that since it was such a serious thing going on in the story that there was like no humor... I like humor... it's funny. ;-;<p>

So I stuck some in there... yepyup.

And the next chapter is up for you guys so goooooo read it

BUT

FIRST

REVIEW

DOWN

HERE

Give me yo feedback, fool. Don't favorite/follow then run BECAUSE I WILL FIND YOU.

Thank you! c:


	13. Tailed-friends

One chapter for a "reader"? Yes, that's you? Ok, here's your order. Please come again! AND LEAVE A TIP! moneymoneymoney

I don't own that Naruto thing (psshhh what's that) but I do in fact own the plotty-plot, especially in this one because I made up a bunch o' stuffy. :D

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><p><strong>CHAPTER 12: TAILED-FRIENDS<strong>

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><p>Naruto gulped, staring at the warriors around him. He knew he could take them (<em>Easy<em>, he thought) but he needed their _help_ so he decided that beating them up wasn't a good idea.

"I, I, uh…" Naruto tried to think of what he wanted to say, but he found himself staring at how shiny and sharp the bone had been made on the weapon in front of his face.

"_Who are you?_" a guttural voice barked out, and the bone spear lunged towards him only to stop an inch away.

"My name's Naruto. I-"

"_What do you want?_" the voice barked again, and Naruto glared at him.

"I was just about to say that. I-"

"_Where are you from?_" another voice asked in the same rough voice, and something prodded him in the back.

"Hey, hey, hold on!" Naruto said, his eyebrows furrowing with annoyance. "My name's Naruto, I'm from the Leaf Village and I want to find a healer! One of those really good ones!"

The warrior in front of him – the leader, it seemed like- pulled his bone weapon away and got right up in Naruto's face. Naruto got a good look at the paint that marked his face, red swirls and simple designs that marked them all similarly.

"You think you can just march in here and demand to see the High Healer?" he growled. "We protect the High Healer from scoundrels like you, who probably want to come in and take advantage of us, or assassinate the High Healer."

"No, really, I just-"

"Tie him up," the man ordered, cutting Naruto off. "We'll send him down the river."

Some of the weapons dropped away and men came behind him, roughly grabbing his arms and beginning to bind them with rope. Naruto struggled, fighting off the urge to show them what a ninja could do.

That's when Naruto noticed it. The painting on the men –the _nine_ men- wasn't just random; the swirls were purposefully copied, the circles on the arms of one stood for tentacles, the slashes on their arms ranged in number from one to nine. Naruto looked around the village and saw rock statues of different creatures, ones he recognized.

_They worship the tailed-beasts_.

"Wait!" Naruto shouted, yanking one arm free. The man binding him lunged at him and Naruto jumped back as the rest brought their weapons up. "Wait, look!"

Naruto yanked up his shirt, showing the swirl and symbols on his stomach. They all paused, eyeing him warily.

Naruto took a deep breath. "I'm the Nine-Tails jinchūriki."

The tribal warriors eyes went wide and they threw their weapons to the side, dropping into bows on the ground in front of him.

_Wow_, Naruto thought, staring at the people in front of him. _Being a jinch__ū__riki has actually been _good_ for once._

* * *

><p>The tailed-beast worshippers began leading Naruto up the pathway that he had seen earlier, no weapons or bindings. The village had suddenly come to life and people appeared everywhere, watching him and chattering excitedly to each other, some of it in a language he didn't know. A few kids came close, staring at him with big, curious eyes, but the men chased them away.<p>

They took Naruto up the path to the temple, a large building, and the only firm-looking wood one he'd soon. It was also painted, unlike the other ones, and had two large, elaborately carved wooden doors. They were red with a golden yellow trim, and one of the men knocked while the rest of them fell into bows in which they could still walk.

"Enter," a voice called.

The lead man, whom Naruto now saw represented the Nine-Tails, pushed the doors open which moved slowly with a quiet, constant creaking noise until giving off a resounding _boom_ as they hit their maximum against the inside walls.

Naruto stared at the inside with amazement. There were intricate murals on the walls, telling a story that he didn't know. There was a pathway in front of them, a simple red carpet trimmed with a golden yellow, like the doors. Lining the path were nine large, stone statues, much more detailed and life-like than the ones before; each one represented one of the tailed-beasts. Fires were lit in between each statue, and these provided light for the temple.

At the end of the path, there was a large, golden metal representation of the sun. Naruto took notice of there being nine "beams" coming off of the sun. Below it was a small table with burning incense on it and a few other things Naruto couldn't see. On either side of the sun were two large, roaring fires contained in metal stands.

Kneeling in front of it all was a figure, someone clothed in all white robes with the hood pulled up. The person rose and turned around, and immediately the men around him all fell into complete bows on the ground. Naruto awkwardly looked around, still standing and unsure what to do.

In front of him was an old, old women. Her skin was wrinkled beyond belief, her body small, skinny, and fragile looking. She held onto a cane with a shaking hand, yet she smiled at them – at _him_- and her eyes twinkled with warmth and intelligence. This was no senile old women.

"Hello, Keeper of the Nine-Tails," she greeted, dipping her head in welcome.

Naruto stood there, shocked. None of the men had said anything to her about who he was. "How… how'd you know I was the jinchūriki?"

The woman sighed, looking off to the side. "_Jinch__ū__riki_," she repeated. "Such an unjust word… we do not use it here."

"What?" Naruto was confused. "Why?"

"It means _power of the human sacrifice_," she explained, waving a hand in the air. "I do not believe in it; I think it does not represent the magnificent capability of what happens with a Keeper and his tailed-friend. It makes them seem like a bloody weapon made in pain, and then that's all they are seen as."

Naruto thought of what his parents went through to seal the Nine-Tails in him. He thought about the image that the village always saw him as while he was a child.

"Who are you?"

The woman smiled. "You may rise," she said to the men around him. She turned her gaze back to Naruto. "They have taken to calling me many things – High Healer, High Priest, Leader, and the such. My actual name is Kana. You may call me whatever you please."

"Obaa-san?" Naruto asked.

Kana laughed, and the men seemed almost surprised to hear it. "If that is what works best for you."

Naruto's head was trying to wrap around everything. He looked around. "So, Obaa-san… why are you guys here? What do you believe, exactly? How come no one really knows about all this?"

Kana smiled at him. She turned her back to him, making her way over to the mural on the wall.

"We believe," she began, pointing to the beginning of the painting, "that long ago, the tails all lived on this world and lived peacefully. We, the humans, then came along though and began wrecking havoc. We saw how powerful the tails were and wanted to use them to our own personal advantages. A war began between us – we call it the War of Claws and Swords- but, of course, we were no match for them. We were losing yet wouldn't surrender, and though the tails were much more powerful, they had actually been finding it harder and harder to survive by themselves. They also resented that the humans were taking the peace out of their perfect world. So we struck a deal – the humans could have the tails harnessed for power but use it only to keep the peace. Nine of the most trusted and powerful ninjas were brought together, and the tails were sealed inside of them."

Naruto's hand unconsciously found its way to his stomach, his seal burning against his skin.

"These were the nine Keepers, trained to form a bond with their tailed-friend-" Naruto smiled at the term, yet he knew it did not describe his relationship with the Nine-Tails. "-and harness its power. They were supposed to keep peace. But the rest of the world still wanted more – power to destroy their enemies. They persuaded the Keepers to help in war plans, ruining the bonds between the Keeper and their tailed-friend. Chaos spread and the peace was destroyed, along with the good reputation of the Keepers. Since the Keepers were breaking the agreement, the tails wouldn't work together with the Keepers, and with so much power inside of them, many were killed in the process of trying to use their tailed-friend's power. The name _jinch__ūriki _came to be."

Kana had reached the end of the mural. She turned back to Naruto, her eyes misted over as though she was watching the whole story play through in her head.

"My people, the only one with these beliefs, fled. We knew that the tails wouldn't be happy with the breaking of the deal and would want to take revenge. We knew that by praising them and worshipping them-" She was back at the shrine with the sun. "- we would be safe."

These people interested Naruto, mainly because they didn't hate him or look down on him or even just "tolerate" him – they actually _admired_ him for being the jinchūriki. He didn't have to win any major battles or defeat any key enemy figures; they just looked at him with smiling eyes.

"So, your customs… what are they?" Naruto inquired.

The woman smiled. "Ah, what a curious boy. We are a small village, as you can see; we don't have much. We built it all ourselves though, and this is the temple in which we worship the tails. We dedicate much art to them. And the men around you are the Tailed-Warriors."

Naruto looked at the men who had escorted him in (and attacked him, he remembered). They were now all lined up on the wall, showing the painting on their bodies and the slashes on their arms.

"Our village begins training all boys at the age of nine unless they have a serious illness or disability. After nine years of training, the nine best out of the group of boys are chosen to be Tailed-Warriors, our main guards and soldiers who each represent a different one of the tails. Depending on which they are, a certain amount of lines are burned into their arms. The highest warrior is the Nine-Tails, since he takes more pain than the others in the burning. He also is the leader of the Tailed-Warriors."

"We gather for a village prayer at nine and nine everyday to thank the tails for our safety, health, and prosperity. We hold a fire after the evening prayer and nine rocks surround the fire, symbolizing the destruction that could destroy us but is being held back by the nine different tails."

Naruto grinned, chuckling. "You guys really love the number nine, huh?"

Kana smiled back at him. "Yes, I suppose so."

Naruto looked around the temple once more. His interest faded as the reason he was here probed his mind.

"I have a question for you though, young Keeper."

Naruto looked up, meeting her clear gaze. She had startling blue eyes that were full of wisdom – a certain knowing look.

"Why have you come to find us?"

Naruto sighed and ran his hands over his face, the events from the past _however long_ rushing through his head.

He looked back up at Kana.

"Obaa-san, I need your help."

* * *

><p>Yaaayyy! So yeah, I like my little tribal-tailed-beast-worshipping village. xD<p>

I'm really behind on my Naruto chapters... I have to read 606-609...

So when does that new movie come out? The one that is apparently supposed to have lots o' NaruSaku? XD

It's almost Thanksgiving break! Woot! I'll try to get teh next chapter up soon then, we'll have to see. I know I have family stuff and a sleepover anndd we're painting my room which will be a lot of work.

I'm so happy, I get to paint each wall a different color! CX Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple! That's what my room's gonna be!

(Yes, my room has six walls like a boss.)

So yeah!

REVIEW PLEASE!

IT'S RIGHT HERE. SUPER EASY TO REVIEW, JUST TYPE IT IN.


	14. And We're Off

Ehh I took a while again there, guys. Sorry about that, busy time of year! I'll update sooner next time (Haha, that's what they all say, Taylor. That's what they all say...)

**So hey guys, I plan on wrapping this story up soon and I was thinking that maybe, instead of another Naruto story, I would do a Kingdom Hearts one? How mnay of you would be interested in that/read it? I'm like 99.99% sure that it would be Roxiri (Roxas and Kairi) because I love that pairing. :D So leave me a review and mention if you would read it or not.**

Yup. Speaking of reviews, this story has 99! XD So at least one person has to review ever again! (But really you should all review all the time~)

We just got one of our puppies fixed and he has a cone now. XD It's hilarious because he didn't know how to function with it at all at first and kept hitting everything with it. When he went outside he would accidentally scoop snow in it all teh time so we call him SnoCone sometimes. xD

Welp, enjoy~

Merry Christmas (late).

* * *

><p><strong>CHAPTER 13: AND WE'RE OFF<strong>

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><p>Kana sat in silence after Naruto explained his story. His voice had cracked midway through considering that he felt so desperate to save Sakura -to just keep her alive- that he could cry.<p>

Naruto waited for her to say something, anticipation clawing at him.

"I would be honored to help the Keeper of the Nine-Tails," she spoke slowly. Naruto's hope shot up. "There is one problem though."

His hope fell back down. "What?"

She gave a small laugh, then gestured to herself. "I am an old woman. From my knowledge and what you have said, your village is far away, and we are in a hurry. I couldn't possibly travel that far, let alone quickly."

"Can you still concentrate chakra to your hands and feet?" Naruto asked.

Kana looked surprised by the sudden question. "Why, yes, of course."

Naruto grinned. "Then we'll be fine."

* * *

><p>Kana told Naruto that they would leave first thing in the morning – the sun had already begun to set by the time they had finished talking. The Tailed Warriors led him to small, abandoned hut. Inside was a thin cotton blanket over top of some straw, and moonlight filtered through a small window.<p>

"We apologize for such conditions," the main Tailed Warrior said, bowing his head. "We were not expecting you."

"It's fine," Naruto said, waving them away. "I'm good."

They bowed their heads, backing out of the hut and closing the door.

Naruto flopped down onto the bed, instantly regretting it as he smacked onto what was basically the ground. He didn't bother to get under the blanket considering that it was plenty warm out already. Naruto folded his arms behind his head and stared up at the moon that shone through his window.

_How can I wait until tomorrow? _Naruto thought, too impatient to sleep. _Anything could happen overnight; I finally found something –someone- that could help, and we can't leave right away._

Naruto took a deep breath, rolling over so his back was to the light. _Might as well try to sleep._

Eventually, Naruto drifted off.

He dreamt that he returned to Konoha with Kana, thinking of himself as a victorious hero, only to walk right in on Sakura's funeral. Everyone was crying; Tsunade was losing tears over the girl she considered her daughter. Even Kakashi had tears leaking out.

Ino was bawling hysterically. Hinata sobbed as Neji hugged her, looking ready to cry himself but holding it in. Kiba cried. Chouji was in a sobbing fit. Even Sai let himself show the emotion of sadness. Shizune let out a strangled cry that pierced the air and Naruto's heart. It started to rain.

Naruto was standing in the tree line, watching it all. Kana was gone. Suddenly, the shadows to his right moved, and Sasuke appeared next to Naruto. Blue eyes still stared at the funeral procession as his old teammate stood next to him, red sharingan eyes gleaming in the dark.

"_At least I didn't kill her," _Sasuke whispered in Naruto's ear before disappearing like dust on the wind.

Naruto woke up with a start. His eyes felt wet and his heart was pounding.

Sunlight filtered in through the window.

It was morning.

Naruto jumped up and ran out of the hut.

* * *

><p>The Naruto Retrieval Team walked through the gates of Konoha, silence among them. Once in the city, they split up, each going their separate ways. Kakashi and Sai headed towards the Hokage tower.<p>

After knocking, Tsunade called them in. She looked at them – just Kakashi and Sai with no Naruto- and sighed. "No luck?"

Kakashi shook his head.

"We were tracking him when suddenly he appeared, already turning into the Nine-Tails," Kakashi reported. "Since he had its chakra, we were no match for him. We lost him."

Tsunade sighed again, swiveling in her chair to face the window that overlooked the city. "I knew I should have sent Yamato with you. I could have called him back from his mission."

Kakashi shook his head. "I doubt he could have done much at all. His mission is important, too."

Tsunade's eyes found the hospital amongst the other buildings in the city. She thought of Sakura.

Tsunade rubbed her head, trying to push out her biased thoughts. Her personal feelings shouldn't interfere with being Hokage.

"Yes," she replied. "You're right."

Tsunade stood up. "I'm heading over to the hospital to work on Sakura. You may accompany me if you like."

Kakashi and Sai nodded, following Tsunade out the door and onto the streets.

* * *

><p>Naruto paced back and forth in front of the temple, eager to leave.<p>

Finally, Kana came out, accompanied by a Tailed Warrior; the one who represented the Eight-Tails.

She nodded her head at Naruto. "We are ready to leave."

"He's coming too?" Naruto asked, looking at the tribal man.

"Yes," Kana replied, "I cannot simply leave on my own – I _am_ this village's leader and a powerful healer. No matter how much I trust you, I need one of my own."

"What about the Nine-Tails warrior guy?"

"He is the highest power in this village besides me," she explained. "He'll take my place while I'm gone."

Naruto nodded, then looked at the tribal warrior. "Can you concentrate chakra into your hands and feet?"

The man simply stared at him, confused.

Naruto sighed. "Fine. Let's go."

Naruto led them out of the village, back into the surrounding forest. He stopped and looked at the tribal warrior. "Hey, um… buddy?"

"You may call me Hachi," the Eight-Tails warrior said, bowing his head.

"Ok, buddy," Naruto continued. "Can you lead me to the nearest wide open area?"

"Of course, Keeper," he replied, bowing his head again.

_Ok, the bowing is getting old,_ Naruto grumbled in his head.

* * *

><p>Hachi led Naruto and Kana to the nearest end of the woods where there was a wide, open plain. They moved at an agonizingly slow pace due to Kana's age, which frustrated Naruto greatly.<p>

"Ok, stay here," Naruto told them, walking out into the field. He then performed the correct signs and called Gamabunta.

A giant sigh blew a large wind, knocking Naruto back.

"Oh great, it's you again, kid." Gamabunta brought his head down and looked at him with one giant, yellow eye. "No enemies around, Naruto. Please don't tell me you've called me to be your horse again."

Naruto looked to one side. "Umm…"

Gamabunta sighed again, settling down low as Naruto brought Kana and Hachi over. "An old lady and civilian. Even better."

Hachi glared at the toad. "I am a warrior," he spoke in his rough, tribal voice. "No civilian."

Naruto brought Kana and Hachi up onto Gamabunta, making two trips. "I grabbed some sturdy looking vine," Naruto said, tying it around his waist, Hachi's, and then Kana's so that they were all connected. "Obaa-chan and I can hold on, so we'll try to hold you down too. This is just in case." Naruto nodded to Kana, giving the signal to hold on with her chakra.

"Wait," Hachi said. "Why I need to hold on? Is toad not walking-"

"Ready, Gamabunta!" Naruto shouted, letting out a whoop.

The toad sprung into the air, easily a couple hundred of feet high and covering a few miles in distance.

Hachi closed his eyes and prayed to the Tails that he would not die.

_Here I come, Sakura! _Naruto thought, a grin plastered on his face as his heart swelled with hope.

* * *

><p>Tsunade walked briskly into the hospital, Kakashi and Sai trailing behind here. She made her way up to Sakura's floor, merely holding her hand out to the nurse at the reception desk. The young woman hurriedly got a clipboard and gave it to the Hokage. Tsunade didn't break her pace.<p>

She looked at the papers containing Sakura's current conditions for the day. She didn't even bother to hope for them to get better anymore – she was just met with disappointment every day.

Sakura's legs had been placed back together, the bones mended, but the blood still wasn't circulating correctly through them. Her heart had stopped for a couple seconds again today before being revived. The bruising and cuts on her face were mostly healed, but it was still deformed. They had unwrapped the opposite side and spent some time working on it. They eventually wrapped it back up, all of them tired and out of chakra from just repairing her gums and teeth on that side. The rest was still gone. No cheek. No skin. No jaw bone.

Keeping Sakura hydrated and giving her the nutrients needed by her body was difficult as always.

Tsunade reached the end of the hallway, walking into Sakura's room and setting the clipboard on a table.

She barely let her eyes land on the girl in the bed. Tsunade sat in a chair next to it, taking over the position of slowly releasing a constant stream of chakra into Sakura's heart. The other doctor left. He was weary from his shift.

Tsunade set to work for the day. She knew it would be a long one without any progress – just like every other one.

* * *

><p>STOP IN THE NAME OF LOVE!<p>

Since you love me then review. :D And if you don't love me then still review. So either way, REVIEW.

If you don't review then Santa's going to come and take all your presents back. :D

We haven't painted my room yet. It was supposed to be my birthday present. My birthday was in September.

We MIGHT go get the paint today. But I mean psshhh it's like three o' clock in the afternoon I have to go to bed soon.

By the way guys, I got Assassin's Creed III for Christmas. :D

OK NOW REVIEW

GIVE ME MA HUNDRETH REVIEW BABY, MOMMA NEEDS A NEW PAIR OF SHOES!

I make no sense in life.


	15. Home

Hey guys, look who's writing instead of studying for exams. ;D Psshhh they're pretty easy. Don't need no studying for them.

Not my best chapter I have to say, but oh well. I want to finish this up. I really need a highschool love story fic going again. xD Maybe in the next chapter I'll put a couple summaries in and see what you guys think. Or maybe I'll put them in a poll on my page. Hmmmz.

For those of you who want to know, painting my room isn't going so well. T_T We've encountered a lot of problems. Bleh.

I don't own the characters of Naruto. D:

Enjoy~

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><p><strong>CHAPTER 14: HOME<strong>

* * *

><p>Naruto looked at the sky, worrying about the setting sun. He couldn't see Konoha yet; they had already taken a wrong turn, adding time to their journey as they realized it only after they were a couple miles in the wrong direction.<p>

"Gamabunta!" Naruto shouted. "Are we close? Will we ma-?" A strong wind blew, drowning Naruto's words. "Will we make it before night falls?"

"We should," the toad replied, and they continued on with Gamabunta hopping across the land.

Eventually, he stopped. Naruto looked around.

"What's the big idea?" he asked, scrunching his nose in an irritated confusion. "Why are you stopping?"

"I have to stop here," Gamabunta said. The sun had pretty much set and Naruto could see lights in the distance. "You need to travel on foot for now. And Naruto," the toad's giant yellow eye swiveled up towards him, "try to keep your thoughts straight."

Before Naruto could say anything else, he and the other two were sent sliding down Gamabunta's back. Naruto hurriedly grabbed Kana and made sure he broke her fall. _It'd be terrible if after coming all this way she broke her old bones from this, _he thought.

The moment they hit the ground, Gamabunta disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"Well," Naruto said as they all stood up. He held a hand out to Kana as she struggled. "Let's start walking."

* * *

><p>When the three travelers made it to Konoha, it was dark. Naruto waved them towards the wall, cautiously approaching. He could see the guards at the gate and immediately headed away from it, back to the spot that he had escaped from.<p>

"Wait here," Naruto told the other two quietly. He slipped through the hole in the wall, barely making it through again. Once on the other side, Naruto glanced around for any witnesses before digging around for some rope he hide there when he'd first discovered the passage. He found an old ramen pack, a beat-up kunai, and some other things. Naruto swore after a couple minutes, not finding it anywhere; his hands groped the dirt and rocks, and the darkness didn't help either.

Naruto grabbed something and jumped away, holding back a scream directed at the snake in his hand.

Then he realized it was the rope.

Naruto looked around for witnesses again; half to see him anyone saw him there and half to see if anyone saw him freak out.

_Nothing._

He quickly climbed up the wall, landing at the top and throwing the rope down to the other two while he held one end. He motioned tying the rope around his waist, and pretty soon he had lifted the two up.

"Lose some weight," he whispered to Hachi before they continued on. Naruto picked up Kana as they jumped down from the wall, Hachi barely making it. They moved on the streets, Kana's elderly speed of slowness and Hachi's inability to sneak around frustrating Naruto to no end.

"Stop," Naruto ordered quietly, holding a hand up to them. They were hiding in the shadows of a building across the street from the Hokage Tower. Shadows moved in a few lit up windows, and –like he'd hoped- the light was on in Tsunade's office. Naruto looked around for people and spotted someone leaving a house farther down the street. He knew that if he was found out, he would be grabbed, drugged, and put straight back in a hospital bed.

Naruto shuddered at the thought of wearing one of those hospital gowns again. _So breezy…_

Naruto nodded towards the other two, quickly shuffling Kana across the street. He glanced worriedly down the road, but the person he had seen was walking the opposite way.

Once Naruto got across the street and around the back of the Hokage Tower, he felt a bit of joy in him. He assisted Kana in running up the building to the roof, then went down and got Hachi.

"Stay here for now," Naruto whispered to them, and climbed down from the front of the building.

Naruto was going old style, not wanting to use his chakra or else he'd be detected. Slowly and carefully, Naruto was lowering himself down the front of the building, avoiding windows and finding as many foot and finger holds as he could.

Naruto was just above the window in Tsunade's office. He lowered himself down as quietly as he could, hanging below the window. He could see her now; she was sitting at her desk, papers piled around her.

Naruto knocked on the window.

Tsunade spun around, eyes wide, as her hand pulled out a kunai from a hidden spot under her desk.

She saw Naruto.

Tsunade put the kunai back, sighing and putting a hand to her head.

"Come in, Naruto."

Naruto pulled at the window, but it wouldn't budge. He knocked again and Tsunade got up, unlocking and opening it.

Naruto stepped into her office and she fixed him with a glare. "I have a lot to say to you, Naruto, and if you think there won't be any consequences for this then-"

"I think I can save Sakura," Naruto interrupted.

There was a stunned silence.

"How?" she asked, wary. "How do you think you could save her?"

"Not me," Naruto corrected. "I found someone else."

* * *

><p>Tsunade stood on the roof next to Naruto, staring at the ancient woman and the "warrior" who seemed to make up his lack of brains with bronze.<p>

She looked at Naruto, then back at them. Then back at Naruto, then back at them.

Tsunade sighed, and felt as though she'd been doing that too much recently. A couple raindrops began falling from the sky as gray clouds began blotting out the stars.

"Let's go," Tsunade said, walking back to the roof door. "You've got some more talking to do before I let a stranger come work on my-" Tsunade cut off as the word _daughter_ approached her tongue and almost slipped out. "-student."

Naruto just smiled at Tsunade, the hope swelling in his chest. He felt like he'd be in the hospital soon, too; admitted in by over-hoping.

* * *

><p>It was the dead of the night when Naruto, Tsunade, Hachi, and Kana made their way to the hospital. Tsunade set a quick pace and Naruto knew that the hope was getting to her, too.<p>

The hospital wasn't far, but the sprinkling of rain had begun to turn into more of a steady pour.

Tsunade threw open the hospital doors just as thunder rumbled in the sky behind them; inside was a nurse at the reception desk, along with a woman with a small boy who had tears in his eyes. They all stared at the odd mix of rain-soaked newcomers; the Hokage, the Nine-Tails jinchūriki who had escaped from the hospital before, an ancient woman, and a very strange looking man with only a loincloth.

Tsunade rushed past the people, not bothering with them and leading the others upstairs. It was dark and quiet, with no one at the reception desk. Farther down, voices could be heard from a lit room. Naruto knew it was the lounge.

Tsunade stopped for split second at the doorway, and all the doctors looked up in surprise. "I need everyone with me _now_."

The doctors and nurses put down their mugs and food and newspapers and books, waking up a couple people and hurrying out after their Hokage.

Naruto watched that last door on the left coming closer into view. All the doctors went in as Tsunade ushered Kana in before walking in herself.

Naruto tried to go through the door, but Tsunade stopped him

"Tsunade Baa-chan-" he started, but she cut him off with a look that said she was dead serious.

"No, Naruto. Not yet. I need you to go get Kakashi and Sai. And Ino and Shizune, while you're at it." She looked at Hachi. "You can, uh… stand guard or something out here."

Hachi nodded and gave a grunt.

The door slammed shut in Naruto's face and he sighed, turning and hurrying back out of the hospital to get the others.

_I brought her here, Sakura. I think she can help. Just a little longer until I see you. I promise._

* * *

><p>Yaya guys. Review please, because I love ze reviews with all mi heart~<p>

**Thank you to everyone who reviews and I can't reply to because you're a guest or disabled PMs. :D 3**

**And everyone else who reviews too. C: 3**

Ok, real quick, if I wrote a Kingdom Hearts fanfic, for those of you who don't know it I don't think it will matter too much because I won't be incorporating the storyline into mine at all. It's just going to be AU, so if you just looked up the characters I think it'd be fine. There might be some little quirks that relate but just things that aren't important and would confuse you.

Maybe I'll do a Kingdom Hearts fic AND a Naruto fic AT THE SAME TIME! DUN DUN DUUUNNN!

That way I won't lose all my Naruto-fans-that-follow-me. xD

OK GEESH I'M DONE JUST LEAVE NOW BYE


	16. Sixty-eight Hours

Awww yeeeeeaaaaahhhh look at that long chapter here, being updated all quick and stuff!

Ok, so do they have clocks in the Naruto world? I couldn't remember. Sometimes I feel like this story isn't always accurate compared to the series. Then I'm like PSSSSHHHHH I REGRET NOTHING.

**VOTE ON MY PROFILE FOR THE NEXT STORY/STORIES. PLEASE. PRETTY PLEASE. WITH A KITTEN ON TOP.**

I don't own Naruto. Sadness.

I thought I was going to say something else but I can't remember. D:

So just go and freaking enjoy this chapter. I just said freaking. That's the closest I get to saying anything bad. I even try not to say freaking. Meh. Smeh.

* * *

><p><strong>CHAPTER 15: SIXTY-EIGHT HOURS<strong>

* * *

><p>Naruto waited throughout the rest of the night. Morning came and went. The rest of the day passed by and his eyelids began to droop as night fell. He didn't let them close.<p>

Tsunade wouldn't let him in no matter what. He'd asked, he'd pleaded, he'd tried to sneak in but always ended up sitting right back in his spot out on the hallway floor.

Naruto had taken a kunai out and scratched a mark into the floor for each hour that he waited. _Only 32 hours… I've stayed awake longer than this._

Some doctors came and left the room, but never opened the door wide enough so that he could get a glimpse. At first the nurses avoided him, then offered him food and drinks, but by now they just ignored him. Luckily, no one had seen the scratches he made in the floor or else he'd be in a world of trouble.

That didn't matter at all to Naruto, though. To him, the only thing that he could care about was Sakura. Food? No. Water? Nah. Sleep? No way.

Naruto was jealous of Kakashi, who was allowed to go in. And Ino, who was in there and helping out with her medical skills. At least Kakashi gave him minor updates every three hours or so. Sai had left. Hachi was apparently posted on the roof, "guarding".

Naruto wondered how in the world it could take so long. He saw how much damage there was to Sakura on the outside, but how much on the inside?

Naruto looked at the clock. He grabbed his kunai and began scratching the 41st mark into the floor. He was starting the third row of marks on the tile.

That's when the chaos started.

The door suddenly flew open, half the doctors running out and down the hall to other rooms. The door crashed against the opposite wall inside, giving Naruto a look at the frantic faces of everyone inside, the lines on the monitors going insane, and the beeping sound going a mile a minute.

The only ones who seemed calm were Tsunade and Kana, who barked out orders at everyone as they stood stooped over Sakura. Naruto couldn't see her- too many people.

Naruto jumped up and rushed toward the door.

Kakashi appeared in his way.

"Not yet," he said, his voice calm and quiet as the noise around them thundered.

Naruto could barely focus, his head swimming with thoughts and his eyes darting towards the room as he tried to pass his sensei. "But-"

"Don't worry," Kakashi told him, moving Naruto back into the hall just as the doctors, plus some more, rushed back in the room and slammed the door behind them. "It'll be okay."

* * *

><p><em>Forty-eight hours.<em>

Naruto sat, dejected, in the hallway. Kakashi had tried to take Naruto's mind off what was happening by offering to buy him a meal, and when he refused, Kakashi forced some food and water down his throat anyways.

"Try to take a nap," Kakashi had suggested, and Naruto had nodded just to please his sensei.

Naruto knew he couldn't sleep until he saw her. He didn't want to miss anything, and even if he did sleep, his dreams wouldn't be good at all.

Even the occasional daydream he was having wasn't good. Naruto couldn't recall anyone ever having a bad daydream.

All the commotion had died down from before, and since everyone had stayed and Sakura wasn't being carried out in a white bag, he assumed that it was good.

Naruto sat cross-legged, keeping his vigil out in the hallway, his back against the wall. Naruto scratched a mark for his 52nd hour of waiting.

The door opened and a doctor walked out, not paying Naruto -who followed the doctor's every movement- a bit of attention.

The doctor looked tired and worn-out. He went into the lounge.

Naruto waited.

He wasn't coming back.

Suddenly, two doctors came out and followed the same path as the first one.

After a little bit, two more.

Later, three came out.

Doctors came out at irregular intervals and in irregular groups until Naruto marked the 54th hour. Naruto's body buzzed with hope and excitement. It seemed to him as though all the doctors had left, and since none had come back, that meant that they weren't needed anymore - that they were done. And, like before, since Sakura wasn't being carried out in a white bag, he assumed that it was good.

Naruto looked and saw that in a little bit he'd have to make another mark.

Ino and Shizune walked out.

Shizune looked at him and attempted a small smile as she walked away, but she looked like she was about to fall off her feet and continued down the hallway.

Ino looked similar to Shizune: face pale, bags under her eyes, limbs almost shaking from just the effort of moving.

Ino slowly bent down in front of Naruto, looking him straight in the eyes. Her eyes didn't show any warmth, and he recalled that night he'd seen her in Sakura's room before he left. There wasn't as much coldness and rage as that time, but her blue eyes still held a bit of ice.

Ino didn't say anything, just stared at him. Then, she gave a slow, deliberate nod. She stood up and left, not needing to do or say anything more.

Joy crashed into Naruto, filling his heart and body so much that it was almost painful. He felt so much relief and happiness that he couldn't even describe the feeling – any words that popped in his head fell short. He stood up and took a shaking step towards the door, then another, and soon his hand was on the doorknob and he was turning it and he was in.

Tsunade sat next to the bed, her elbows on the mattress and her hands holding up her head. She was staring at Sakura, smiling softly. Kana was sleeping in a rocking chair off to one side.

Tsunade looked up as Naruto walked in and her smile grew. She stood up and walked swiftly over to him, crushing him in a hug that was slightly awkward and he hadn't expected.

"Thank you," she said once she'd released him. She walked over to Kana, softly shaking the old lady awake and helping her out of the room. As they passed, Kana winked at Naruto.

"Thank you," Naruto said, to both of them, really.

"Anything for a Keeper," Kana said, flipping up a hand over her shoulder as though healing someone from basically death, someone who was so broken inside and out, wasn't a big deal.

The door closed behind them and Naruto turned, walking to Sakura's bed and kneeling beside it.

She was laying there, the sheets pulled up to just below her arms, which were lying out and next to her. She was breathing softly and her heartbeat was a steady metronome. Her soft pink hair had regained its color and luster, along with her skin, which was back to its healthy tone.

All her bones seemed put back into place, her legs straight under the sheet. He looked at her arms, healed, but scars of all different shapes and sizes crossed them. Guilt overwhelmed him. Her perfect, toned, smooth arms were now forever defaced. He reached out and ran the tip of his hand across one of her arms and bit his lip at the bumpy feeling of crossing over the scars.

Naruto jerked his hand away and focused his attention to her face. Her skin was back to its regular color and, surprisingly, he couldn't see any scars. Naruto figured they had tried as hard as they could to keep her face from scarring. Naruto noticed that one of her earlobes was cut short, having been sliced off before. Her nose seemed fine from being smashed in, but Naruto softly ran his thumb across her lips to find that the skin had deep crevices in it from being sliced up.

Naruto suddenly remembered what he had seen on Sakura's hospital record when he had snuck out and got it during what seemed like forever ago. He remembered the doctor's thin, slanted writing.

_Patient's left side of face torn, exposing jaw, + left eye was not functioning._

Naruto moved around to the other side of the bed, kneeling down over there. He couldn't tell the condition of her eye, since it was closed, but it was outwardly fine. Her jaw seemed fine, though the bottom of it, under her chin, had a light scar. The skin seemed different, too, almost like it didn't belong there. It was pinker.

Sakura's head was turned slightly away from him so that her hair had fallen in her face. Naruto reached out and brushed it back.

He saw it and gasped, tears springing to his eyes.

Running from about the top over her head all the way down to the bottom of the jaw, a large, inch-thick scar curved along with the side of her face. It was fat and white, easily noticed as it passed just by her left eye and continued down.

Naruto felt a sob coming as he gripped the sheets tightly in his fists. He couldn't come to terms with the fact that Sakura's beautiful face, which he adored so much, had been so scarred – by him. Not even just her face, though, but her whole body. Suddenly all the joy and relief that had been in Naruto was flushed out and replaced by an overwhelming guilt and sadness. He felt like his heart was being ripped out.

Naruto sat back from the bed, taking deep breaths. He needed to calm down and just think about the fact that Sakura was _alive_.

Once Naruto figured he was calm enough, he got up and looked down at her with such adoration and just wished she'd open her gorgeous green eyes and look at him.

Naruto knelt down and placed a light kiss on the scar on her face, straightening back up just as Tsunade opened the door.

"Come on, Naruto," she said.

He walked around the bed. "How long until she's awake?"

Tsunade sighed. "I really can't say. It could be an hour. It could be a day. It could be a week."

Naruto just nodded and walked out, straight across the hallway to his spot and settling down.

Tsunade looked at him and shook her head. "Dedication," was all she said, and walked off.

When she was gone, Naruto looked at the clock and counted the time, making another mark on the floor.

_Fifty-five hours._

* * *

><p>Naruto waited, making mark after mark. He was brought food and ate a few times since he was able to stomach it with the knowledge that Sakura was safe and alive. He didn't sleep though. He wouldn't sleep until he saw her awake.<p>

Some people came in and saw Sakura, but only a few and only for a short time since she was still asleep and Tsunade said Sakura needed her rest.

Naruto sat, idly passing time and scratching marks in the floor as he passed time.

Naruto drew the sixty-fifth mark. He continued to sit around as Tsunade went in; nothing irregular.

He waited a little while longer and was brought a glass of water by Ino, who went in; nothing irregular.

Naruto drew the sixty-sixth mark and put his kunai away. He suddenly paused, listening; there was a lot of talking going on in Sakura's room, excited talking, and then it calmed down.

Naruto knew better than to try to go inside. He would just be thrown out.

"Go get Shizune!" he heard Tsunade say, and Ino slipped out.

The blonde girl actually smiled at him, and the tears in her eyes slipped down her face.

"She's awake," Ino said, wiping away her tears of joy. "She's awake!"

Of course, Naruto wasn't allowed in right away. He wasn't called in until he drew the sixty-eighth mark.

Tsunade popped out and came up to him as he scrambled to stand up.

"Do not overwhelm her," Tsunade ordered. "Don't bring up what happened."

Naruto nodded, and Tsunade went back inside.

Walking up to her door was even harder than it had been only a couple hours ago; Naruto's feet felt like lead, his heart was racing and his breathing had suddenly gotten quick and shallow.

This was the moment that he'd been waiting so, _so_ long for; the moment he'd been preparing himself for since he first found out.

He was going to see Sakura. She was going to be awake. _She was going to be alive._

He grabbed the door handle, taking in a deep breath and letting it out slowly. She was in there; she was in there, sitting up, eyes open, breathing and talking.

Naruto pushed down all the joy and happiness and forced himself to ready his mind for the worst. He knew what could happen – she wouldn't react well to him. She might be afraid of him. She might be terrified of him. She might shy away in horror.

Naruto felt his heart twinge with sadness at the mere thought.

She might never forgive him. She might be angry at him – not, not angry. Enraged.

She might hate him.

Naruto's hand stilled on the door knob. He could feel the expecting presence of Tsunade inside as voices came through the door. It seemed to him like turning the doorknob was impossible; too many risks.

But he missed her. He missed her so much and so badly every day. She'd been the only thing on his mind for weeks – her voice, her laugh, her eyes.

Forget that. She'd been the only thing on his mind since he met her.

No matter what, he had to see her.

Naruto took another deep breath and opened the door. He took a few slow steps in, keeping his eyes down, and then looked up. They looked back at him.

_She _looked back at him.

Naruto stared into her green eyes and thought he'd melt at the sight of her.

"Who's that?" Sakura asked.

Naruto's heart shattered, stabbing him with an intense pain.

_It was even worse than he had imagined._

* * *

><p>DUN DUN DUUUUNNNNNNN YES I JUST DID THAT.<p>

What would you guys do if I just like dropped off the face of the planet and never updated it again? xD Haha don't worry, I'd never do that. I'd only not update if I died.

**GO TO THE POLL ON MY PROFILE AND VOTE FOR THE NEXT STORY/STORIES. PWETTY PWEASE. *PUPPY DOG EYES***

And you should also review. Otherwise I'll tell my grandma not to make you anymore cookies. So you'll cry. And then die.

Bloop bloop.

Oh and I forgot to mention that I got Assassin's Creed III :DD But I've barely started it so don't spoil anything for me! D:

Ok. Go review now. They keep me from crying myself to sleep every night.


	17. Waiting

Here's a boring chapter for you guys, ugh I'm sorry school has just been swamping me. And this story keeps giving me deadends so I don't know what to write. D:

Ugghh I'm so tired. I don't own Naruto. you guys should know that by now. Masashi Kishimoto doesn't freaking write fanfiction for his own manga.

Vote on my profile if you haven't already.

Enjoy. Lame chapter is lame.

*sleeps*

* * *

><p><strong>CHAPTER 16: WAITING<strong>

* * *

><p>All Naruto could do was stand there with his mouth flopping open and closed like a fish. He was frozen to the spot, unable to say anything; his tongue was a dry slab of meat just lying in his mouth.<p>

Naruto looked into her eyes – they were seeing him, but not recognizing him. This was no prank. This was no practical joke.

Tsunade looked sharply at Sakura. "Sakura, you don't know who this is?"

Sakura looked back at Naruto with her big green eyes. She stared at him, still confused. "No. I feel like I should though."

"And you know who I am, right?" Tsunade asked.

Sakura mustered as much of a smile as she could – her jaw still hurt. "Of course. You're Tsunade, my mentor."

"And her?" Tsunade questioned, gesturing to Ino.

"Ino-pig."

"Your sensei?"

"Kakashi."

"The Kazekage?"

"Gaara."

"Your teammates?"

Sakura hesitated for a moment.

"Sai."

Tsunade looked at Naruto, catching his eye. "You don't know him?"

Sakura's face sank. "I should, shouldn't I? Why don't I?" Sakura turned her perplexed gaze back to Naruto. "What's your name?"

Before Naruto could even try to conjure any words (which he still didn't think it would work), Tsunade was up off her chair, pushing him out of the room. The door slapped closed behind them.

"You can't say anything," Tsunade instantly told him, her grip on his arm tightening. "Not your name, not about what happened – nothing. Actually, your visit is over."

"But – why?" Naruto asked.

"She's either just forgotten you, due to the many injuries to her head," Tsunade said, "or it's possible that her mind has blocked you out to save her from the trauma. Even just saying your name could send her into some kind of frenzy, convulsion, et cetera. It could put her back in her coma for all we know."

"Whoa, wait," Naruto said, backing up. "You mean… she doesn't remember me because of what I did? Because I hurt her?"

Tsunade nodded solemnly. "It's a possibility."

Naruto looked past the Hokage to the door behind her. He wondered if Sakura would ever remember him. He wondered if she would hate or fear him if she did.

He didn't know which was worse.

* * *

><p>Naruto finally left his spot where he kept vigil and roamed around the hospital. He still refused to leave the building though – he could miss something important. He didn't want to be asleep at home if something major occurred.<p>

Naruto was meandering towards the hospital's cafeteria when a hand clapped his shoulder. He looked back to see Kakashi.

"They're easing her in," he said. "Getting her some food, water. Tsunade has been keeping her busy with questions about how she feels." There was a sudden knowing shine in his eyes. "She'll ask soon, though."

Naruto just nodded, not knowing what to say. Kakashi left and Naruto continued to the cafeteria, buying some cereal. It felt dry and tasteless as he thought about Sakura.

* * *

><p>Kakashi's words rang true; Tsunade had stalled for about two full hours, but Sakura had begun asking questions.<p>

Ino had come down and let Naruto know – it seemed like she wasn't quite as mad at him, now that Sakura was alive and well. Naruto followed the blonde upstairs, sitting outside of Sakura's door to listen and occasionally peeking in.

"Tsunade," Sakura said.

The older woman pretended not to hear.

"Tsunade."

"More water, Sakura?" Tsunade asked, moving out of the room quickly. She passed Naruto and came back with a cup of water.

"Here you go-"

"That's not what I wanted," Sakura told her. "I wanted to ask you-"

"Oh, is something wrong? Does anything hurt? I can check-"

"Tsunade!" Sakura's voice rose to almost a shout, immediately failing from the strain. She began a terrible coughing and Naruto looked in to see Tsunade rush over, emitting healing chakra over Sakura's neck and chest.

"Careful," Tsunade chastised. "Don't get too loud or make any sudden movements."

"Why?"

"Well, you could seriously damage your vocal chords while they heal or another part of you-"

"_No_," Sakura interrupted. "I mean, why am I like this?"

Tsunade pulled her hands away, the chakra fading as she slowly fell back to sit on the bed by Sakura.

"_Why?_" Sakura stressed as her mentor didn't answer.

"You got injured on your last mission," Tsunade replied, touching the side of Sakura's face with motherly love. She suddenly got up and started briskly for the door.

"With who?" Sakura called after her.

"Your team," was all Tsunade said, already halfway out the door. Her vague answer hung in the air behind her.

Naruto peeked back into the room. Sakura was sitting there, confused and obviously wanting some answers. He thought back to when he first woke up in the hospital feeling the same. Empathy washed over him.

* * *

><p>They continued to keep Sakura busy, dodging her questions and only giving indistinct answers if they couldn't. Naruto ambled around the hospital, checking in at Sakura's room every so often. He slept in the room next door to hers, and it was strange to sleep in the hospital when there was nothing wrong with him; physically, anyways – he wasn't so sure about emotionally.<p>

Shizune had told him about how they were slowly testing Sakura to see how well she was recuperating. They were starting with the mental things –"Scary," she had said, because they didn't know how much she would remember and if remembering things would trigger anything. They started by asking her the alphabet, then counting numbers. She had to identify colors, and right then, they were showing her random images to identify. Afterwards, they'd have her try writing.

Once the mental tests were done, they would start the physical ones, such as a regular doctor check-up. Eventually, they'd have her out of bed and trying to walk.

When Naruto arrived upstairs though, they were still showing her pictures of different things. A picture of a flower, a plate, a headband, a tree – basic things. Then they showed her specific things, like the Hokage Mountain, the Hokage Tower, Kiba, Hinata, Neji, her house, and more.

The man showing the pictures pulled one out of the Ramen Stand. Tsunade tensed.

Sakura smiled. "It's the Ichiraku Ramen Stand." Her smile slowly fell from her face, replaced with puzzlement. "Wait, hold on… I used to go there a lot. With… with my team, right?"

The group of doctors glanced at each other.

"But…. Wait. I can't recall Sai or Sasuke ever really being there. Just me, Kakashi, and… and…"

The man quickly changed the picture to another building that even Naruto didn't recognize right away. It grabbed Sakura's attention and held her focus, ridding her mind of her last thought.

Naruto moved away from the door, back down the hall. He stuffed his hands in the pockets of his pants and decided that he'd rather have Sakura remember him and hate him than not remember him at all.

* * *

><p>Naruto's now regular routine continued. He checked in on her every hour or so. Watched the doctors examine her. Watched her try writing – she could remember how, though she couldn't remember how to hold the brush at first, and once she did, she had trouble getting her muscles to fix in place while she wrote and repeatedly dropped the brush.<p>

Naruto was passing time by counting all his scratches in the floor; he already had forgotten how long he had been there. Sixty-eight hours. The number didn't matter to him.

Shizune and Tsunade passed Naruto to go into Sakura's room. Shizune mentioned something about physical tests as she brushed past him.

As they opened the door, Naruto saw a quick glimpse of Sakura and his heart jumped into his throat – he'd been dying to see her again, talk to her again, ever since their first encounter when she woke up. He badly wished to be in just the same room as her, which he wasn't allowed.

Naruto suddenly straightened. _I can't go in since I'm me… so I'll just have to be somebody else._

Naruto stood up, once again sticking his hands in his pockets. This time he whistled a little tune as he walked down the hall, wondering which doctor's clothes would fit him best.

* * *

><p>Ooohh you little sneaky Naruto you. :'D<p>

Bleh bleh bleh.

Getting that out of my system.

Review or you shall find dog poop in your mailbox. _i know where you liivvvee_ :D

XD Seriously, helpful reviews are helpful. Kind reviews are happy-makers.

Bye bye. T_T

Oh, and guys you should enable PMs if you haven't already because if you don't then I can't thank you and tell you how much I love you. D':

Night night, don't let the murderers kill you in your sleep - I mean bed bugs bite. Yeah, that.


	18. Trigger

Well geesh guys, I know a lot of people don't really care but I'm really sorry... It's been like almost two months since my last update. I'll give you guys my little excuses and hopefully you'll accept them.

Well, first off, my laptop got some kind of virus. So It had been like a week since my last update and I was going to start this chapter buuuuut then I didn't have my laptop for about three weeks. It really stunk. Then I just kind of put it off and then there was school and then I WENT TO DISNEY! It was super fun. Besides the fact that it was like a day long bus ride and we had to sleep on the buses which is basically impossible.

So yeah. I just got back yesterday and wrote like the whole chapter today. I want to upload as much as I possibly can before my spring break ends (Monday is the last day) because that way this story will be done soon and I can focus on my next ones without worrying about updating.

**Thank you too all of you that are patient and kind and stay with me even though I update late. 3 I love you guys!**

I don't own Naruto by the way. B T DUBS. Hehehe.

Enjoy!

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><p><strong>CHAPTER 17: TRIGGER<strong>

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><p>The doctor flopped, unconscious, onto the floor of the scarcely used utility closet downstairs. Naruto stole the doctor's clothes, dropping his own on top of the man.<p>

Naruto walked out as Dr. Unatoro. He smirked under his medical mask that hid the whisker marks on his cheeks and adjusted the cap on his head that hid his blonde hair. He strolled down the hall and up the stairs, grabbing a random chart off the wall to make himself look as though he had a purpose.

Naruto stood outside Sakura's door, unsure whether to knock or not. It was slightly ajar so he opted to just push it open and walk in. Shizune and some other doctors were gathered in her room, having her do different physical tests. Right then, Sakura was lifting her arms up and down.

Naruto walked over to the opposite side of the bed, looking at the monitors and marking things on his clipboard. He briefly recognized that it was the medication chart for an old woman. Naruto tried to look like he knew what he was doing.

But as he strolled up to her, he could barely contain himself. He was standing right next to her; he wanted to pick her up in a hug and spin around the room, even if she basically beat him unconscious for the action. He wanted to talk to her, to hear her voice, even if it was saying that she wouldn't go on a date with him.

Sakura sighed as the doctor told her to lift her arms again and Naruto observed the pink hair hanging in her face fly up with the released breath. Her green eyes sparkled with life, something he'd been dying to see.

Suddenly those green eyes swiveled to meet his and Naruto realized he'd been staring. She looked at him and Naruto knew she recognized him from before as her eyebrows knit together and her mouth opened to speak.

Naruto bolted out of there.

As he raced down the hall, a small smile crossed his face – she'd almost caught him, but it was too late. He had got to see her; that was all he cared about.

* * *

><p>Naruto walked into the utility closet just as the doctor was waking up. He panicked and knocked him out again, switching back clothes. He hoped the doctor wouldn't recognize him later, and sure enough, Naruto passed the man in the hall and he didn't spare him another glance.<p>

Naruto pumped his fist in the air, giving a silent whoop of joy at him getting away with it.

* * *

><p>Days passed. Weeks even. Naruto stayed in the hospital, watching her progress. He watched friends pass him by to go in and greet her – all forbidden to talk about the mission. Or about Naruto. Or about anything that might jog her memory.<p>

Finally Naruto got through to Tsunade, and she allowed him to interact with Sakura. Tsunade let him come in every once in a while, and after she was assured that the sight of him wouldn't harm Sakura, he was introduced as Kotarou, a new nurse at the hospital. He wore a hospital mask over his lower face and different clothes, but Naruto was just overjoyed to speak with her and help her in any way he could.

One of his favorite moments was when he helped her take her first step. She'd had already been sitting up for a while and had just finished working on standing the past few weeks, and then he held her hand and placed one of his own on her back as she gently, carefully, started to walk again. She took a step on the first day, her face scrunched in concentration and her breath quick. She asked to go back to her bed as Naruto held her up because her legs were shaking so bad. She gratefully took his hand as he took her back. He savored the moment.

The next day she took two and a half steps. Halfway through the week, she got halfway across the room. Naruto had carried her back; she clung to him, still breathing heavy, and whispered, "Thank you, Kotarou," against his neck.

Naruto couldn't smile back at her as he gently set her down on her bed.

* * *

><p>It had been almost two months since <em>it<em> happened. Sakura walked almost as free and easy as before. She "grew close with Kotarou", not knowing that this was someone that she already knew and already had a strong bond with. Every time she asked to see him or be with him, Naruto was happy. Yet every time she called him Kotarou, his heart broke a little.

Sakura was walking out of the hospital by now. She'd even been out to eat a few times and taken to her home or friends' houses for quick visits.

It was a sunny day out, fairly warm with a fresh breeze blowing through the air, making it clean and crisp. The smell of summer was in the air.

Tsunade called Naruto to her office. She asked if he would take Sakura out on a walk.

He only stood there, stunned.

"I- I can?"

"Yes," Tsunade said slowly, narrowing her eyes at him to give a stern look. "I want you to take her out, away from the inner city though."

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, it's too busy there. She could easily get hurt."

"That, and there's too many possible triggers."

Naruto stopped, knowing what she meant by triggers. "Oh."

"I want you to avoid any of your friends," Tsunade advised. "Don't go near any commonplaces from before – Ichiraku, the school, the training grounds, et cetera. Anything that you think may bring back memories, stay away from it."

"Okay," Naruto replied, nodding.

She fixed him with another hard look, then sighed. "Be careful with her, Naruto. Please, just… be careful with her."

Naruto felt indignant at first – he never, ever meant to hurt her. He was tired of being the monster that attacked her,and wished people would see more of the boy who cared so much for Sakura that his heart ached and he couldn't sleep at night.

But then his heart melted at the sight of Tsunade's face. Her hand was on her forehead, her elbow on her desk. Her eyes were closed but her expression showed how tired and stressed she was over Sakura. All she was focused on was Sakura – mountains of papers stood all around the room, symbolizing her negligence of her Hokage duties. She just wanted Sakura to be safe, happy, and healthy. Naruto felt the same.

"What are we going to do?" He meant to speak it louder, in a more demanding tone, but instead it came out as a hopeless whisper. "We can't keep it from her forever."

"I know, I know." Tsunade sighed again. Naruto thought that if he marked every time she sighed, he'd have a lot more marks than on the floor in front of Sakura's room. "Go, now. Careful."

Naruto bowed his head and left the room.

* * *

><p>Naruto walked next to Sakura, his heart about to burst. They walked slowly along a path going through the trees near the training grounds and by the river. She was so happy that the feeling overflowed onto Naruto. Her green eyes sparkled as she looked around and breathed in the fresh air.<p>

"I feel like I've been in the hospital for so long," she said, stretching her arms out to welcome the sun's warmth.

"It has been a while," Naruto replied. He was wearing a mask like Kakashi's to cover the lower half of his face, mainly his whiskers, and a knit hat, just to be safe. He wasn't sure how his sensei wore the mask every day because he was already uncomfortable in it.

"It's so nice out," she continued. She looked back at him. "Why are you wearing a hat? It's so warm."

Naruto shrugged. "It's kind of a trademark thing for me."

He hated to lie to her.

She was quiet for a moment then looked back to him. He stared into her eyes and had to tear himself away – she might recognize him as Naruto if she looked for too long.

"Kotarou," (_crack_ went his heart) "can I ask you about the hospital?"

"What about it?" He replied slowly, still not looking at her.

Sakura glanced around like Tsunade might be hiding in the bushes, about to yell at her. "About why I was there. About the mission."

Naruto just hurriedly shook his head. He couldn't get into this now – he knew she could easily convince him to tell. All she had to do was look at him with those shining eyes.

Naruto kept his gaze fixed on a Sakura blossom tree to their right.

"No."

He couldn't see her expression, but he could see her hang her head down out of the corner of his eye. "I'm getting so tired of that answer."

He gave a short laugh, thinking of when he woke up in the hospital and no one would tell him anything. "So was I."

Her head snapped back up and he could feel her gaze on him. "What do you mean?"

_I've said too much already,_ he thought, but that didn't stop him. "Let's just say I made a mistake."

He risked a glance at her, and she was giving him a probing look, one eyebrow raised. "What kind of mistake? Like a oops-my-bad mistake or a really serious mistake?"

He sighed and stopped; he had walked too quickly and was a couple steps ahead of her. He turned to Sakura and looked her in the eyes, savoring it.

"A deadly mistake."

A cool breeze blew through to them, carrying Sakura petals past them. Naruto took another moment looking into her eyes and then turned briskly, cutting off the moment. He hoped she wouldn't pursue it.

She didn't.

* * *

><p>"Kotarou, wait up," Sakura called.<p>

Naruto walked a few more feet before stopping as he realized that she was talking to him. They had walked in silence and he gradually got ahead of her, glancing back to make sure she was okay.

He retraced his steps until they met back up.

"It's getting boring," she pouted. She had been walking slower.

"Are you tired?"

"No," she answered.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." Her eyes sparkled. "I bet I could even beat you to that bridge."

"Oh, really?" he said, raising an eyebrow. They were meandering towards a bridge that was about fifteen feet away.

"Yes," she said again, and before he could say anything else, she shouted "GO!", pulled his hat over his eyes, and pushed him down to the ground.

Naruto pulled his hat back up and saw her running to the bridge – it wasn't a heavy run, nowhere near a sprint, but she was running. Her laughter pierced the air, clear and beautiful and filled with pure joy. Naruto just stared for a moment from his spot on the ground. She reached the bridge, grabbing the railing to support herself as she breathed heavily and laughed, a smile on her face so big that it threatened to overwhelm her other features.

"Sakura!" he shouted, scrambling up. He had a similar smile and his heart pounded with happiness. "You ran! You just ran!"

Her laugh filled the air, and he could have sworn that an angel just rang the most beautiful bells he had ever heard. He started towards the bridge when suddenly all the joy drained out him and cold dread washed over him, making him pause in his tracks. His breath stopped. An icy feeling crawled up his spine.

He had just realized that this was the bridge that Team Seven had met at almost every morning.

_A trigger._

Sakura was laughing still, smiling still, and she spun around on the bridge, reaching the middle.

"Come on, Naruto!"

Time stopped for a split second. Naruto wished it could have stopped forever; he could stand for eternity and watch Sakura standing on their bridge, the sun shining and a blissful smile on her face.

But Naruto couldn't control time. It continued forward.

Sakura froze, her arms falling to her sides as she stumbled from her spin to just standing there, staring out at him. She slowly reached up, placing a hand over her heart and clenching it, like it hurt. Her eyebrows came together in confusion and she frowned. She looked around the bridge, then out across the water.

"Naruto," she repeated.

She had begun to breathe in short, quick breaths, and a look of pain came across her face. She began blinking rapidly and her eyes darted around, worried and filled with tears. They were seeing, but nothing in reality.

"No, no, no," she said and grabbed her head in her hands, her breathing now extremely quick as she clenched her eyes closed. Tears still ran down her face and she shook violently. A wail rose in her throat and she crumpled to the ground, still crying and shaking and muttering.

"_NARUTO!_" she screamed, the sound piercing the air.

Naruto lurched forward, closing the distance between them in a second. He snatched her up, holding her tightly to his chest and racing back to the hospital.

Tears ran down his face as he jumped from building to building, leaping over obstacles and shouting at people to get out of his way. He sobbed as she shook in his arms, crying as well.

"Stop," she kept repeating in her trance.

"I'm sorry," he kept sobbing through his tears.

When he reached the hospital, Tsunade and Shizune and more doctors had somehow already been alerted and were ready for them. Sakura was taken from him and rushed into the room, followed by the medical staff. It was orderly chaos. The door slammed closed behind them.

Naruto slid to the ground across from the door, landing in his usual spot – the spot from before. He was in a daze.

The tears kept coming to the point where Naruto thought he might drown in them.

_Maybe that would be best._

* * *

><p>I'm not sure what the quality of this chapter was. Maybe you could, uh, do this little thing where you review and let me know. ;D Huh huh? Yus?<p>

I love feedback. Almost as much as donuts. Not quite.

I don't eat healthy. :C

Oh and if you haven't gone to the poll on my profile page and voted, please do that too!

You know what, I think I'll like become a nun and go live in the Himalayas or something. I'm like already done with boys/relationships and I've never even been in a serious one. xD

Just ignore my ramble rumble and read the impotant stuff if you'd like.

I think that's all I wanted to say. Let me think. Ummmmmmm hmmmmmm hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm oh I got super behind on my Naruto chapters. Like I had about then to read at one time. It was bad. D: I'm still not all the way caught up.

Ok, now I'm done!

Thank you for reading! :D

**Hey, let's see what happens when you write what you think about the chapter in this little box down here and then click post. :D**


	19. Love

**PLEASE READ THE BELOW**

** V**

Ok guys I really need some feedback on this chapter, I'm unsure and iffy on it because it is the end. I want you guys to let me know what you think about this chapter, and depending on what you say, I might take it down to rewrite it. So give me any ideas/feedback you have please! I'm sorry if this is a lame ending, I've never been good at finishing stuff.

I WILL WRITE AN EPILOGUE.

Class, we've gone over this; what's the answer? I don't own Naruto. Duh.

Enjoy~

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><p><strong>CHAPTER 18: LOVE<strong>

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><p>Naruto wandered the halls of the hospital. It was about one o' clock and the building was dark and silent, sleeping like everyone else. The quiet was a perfect time for Naruto to think.<p>

Sakura was in a stable condition now, but that didn't cover the fact that she had experienced some sort of attack because of him. Because she remembered him.

_She remembered him._

Beneath all the guilt, shame, and agony inside of Naruto, there was a small bit of happiness hiding in the dark corner of his heart, because at least now she remembered him – even if it was mostly from _that_ time, he was sure all the good memories must be under there, too.

Naruto was used to messing things up - he was used to being a screw-up in life. It was how he'd always been, the source of mistakes and accidents. He'd made some pretty stupid mistakes before and some pretty big ones too. But accidents happen, right?

Naruto told himself to stop calling it a _mistake_ and an _accident_. No matter how many lies he filled himself with, and no matter how many walls he built to keep himself from the truth, he knew that it was on purpose. The monster inside of him wanted to hurt Sakura. The monster inside of him wanted to _kill_ Sakura. Naruto didn't mean to, but the Nine-Tails sure did.

Naruto reached the end of the hall, finding a window with the moon's beams shining through. He sighed and plopped down in front of it, staring up at the stars.

No matter how much he thought, though, Naruto still found himself to blame.

Naruto was a jinchūriki. And – like everything else in his life- he was failing at it. He'd heard of other jinchūriki who were able to talk to and control their tailed-beast – heck, some were even friends. Yet Naruto couldn't stop it, couldn't keep it from taking over, couldn't think, couldn't control his own movements - couldn't do anything.

"This is getting old," Naruto said aloud. He stared at the moon as he continued in his head. _I'm tired of this constant failing in life. Can I just succeed at one thing? Just _one_? I always messed up in school and was instantly labeled stupid. I couldn't get Sakura to even look at me._ _Sasuke always beat me in training. I couldn't bring him back. Every time a mission was messed up, it was because of me. What is wrong with me?_

More memories filled his brain of all the times he messed up, of all the times he was given _that_ look – that look saying, "Way to mess everything up." He tried to remember when someone just patted him on the back and said, "Hey, everyone makes mistakes," or "Don't worry, it's not your fault." Naruto sat for a moment. He couldn't think of one of those times.

He sighed and stood up, brushing the dirt off his pants then turning around and walking back the way he came, heading for the room he was staying in.

He was tired; mentally, physically, and emotionally.

* * *

><p>The day passed fairly normal. Sakura stayed in a pretty stable condition, though she was reported to be having nightmares to where she would begin thrashing around as her heart rate sped up, and she would cry out. Naruto had heard it happen before; the screams and cries as nurses would run into her room to calm her down. Nobody said anything. Everybody looked at him.<p>

Everybody knew what the nightmares were about.

Naruto had thought it was gone. Suddenly, he was a kid again, out on the streets. Everybody looked at him with hate, fear, anger, judgment. Nobody was giving him a chance. All they could see was the Nine-Tails.

Naruto never forgot the feeling of their eyes trained on him. He was now feeling it again.

_Thanks_, was all he sarcastically thought, because he was too tired to go into an indignant rant about how he was a person too and it wasn't fair and yada yada yada.

Why bother anymore?

* * *

><p>That afternoon, Tsunade called him to her office. She looked at him with her hands folded on her desk.<p>

"We've concluded that she must have gone into a slight coma as her brain goes back through all the memories of you that it previously blocked. She's most likely going to remember _everything_ when she wakes up."

Naruto nodded.

"We're not sure when that'll be, though. There are quite a few memories she must have of you."

Naruto's heart clenched. He nodded.

"I'll call for you when she wakes up. We won't bring you in right away; Shizune, Ino, and I will meet with her first."

Naruto nodded.

"I know this is a difficult time, Naruto. You should go take a breather, walk outside."

Naruto nodded.

Tsunade gave him a searching look. "I have the feeling that a bad idea has brewed in your head."

"No, no," he said, giving her a smile to reassure her.

She gave him another look, staring into his eyes as though she could find out what he was thinking. "You are dismissed."

Naruto nodded.

* * *

><p>Sakura didn't wake up for the rest of the day, which was fine with Naruto. It made it easier.<p>

He stayed in his cot until the hospital gained the silence it got every night, after all the patients have gone to sleep and all the nurses with the night shift had settled into the staff's lounge. It was a dark blue sky with a full moon and glittering stars, so beautiful that Naruto stopped to look at it as he got out of bed to slip on his shoes. The moon shone almost as bright as the sun, setting everything in an off-white glow with shadows.

Naruto put his shoes on before he left his room, walking silently down the hall to Sakura's. He opened the door which emitted a small _creak_ and walked over to her bed.

She was asleep, the monitors around her bed dark and silent – unplugged, something he hadn't seen since she'd been there. She really was getting better.

The moon lit up her face so that her skin looked porcelain; combined with her beautiful features, she looked like a beautiful doll. Pink lips, beautiful eyelashes, her soft hair – it all made Naruto crazy.

He took a deep breath – breathing in some of her rosy smell – to sort his mind; he couldn't let himself get overwhelmed. Not now.

"I love you," Naruto whispered to her sleeping form. "I love you, I love you, I love you." He paused for a moment, just in case she would happen to wake up and say something or punch him or whatever. She didn't.

He continued. "You're the only girl I've looked at since I first laid eyes on you. It was just a crush back then that eventually became love. No matter what, I've always loved you and always will. No matter how many times you've hit me. No matter who I meet or what I do. I love you so much that I can't…. I can't be here anymore." Naruto looked down. He softly ran his fingers over her hand before lightly grasping it in his own. "You're not safe when I'm around. That's clear now. I don't matter to the village. I can only sit here and hope that I at least matter a little to you. But I can't control myself, so I have to go, before I hurt you or anyone else again… I could never tell you all of this when you're awake, so I'll settle for now." Naruto laughed, then looked at her with adoring eyes, whispering, "I hope you don't hate me. I wouldn't be able to bear it if I stayed. But I'm just selfishly hoping that because I love you."

Naruto kissed her forehead, lingering before pulling away and moving to the window. He was having some déjà vu considering that he jumped out this window to leave Konoha without anyone knowing before; but this time, he meant to leave for good.

_I'll stay in touch,_ he thought, pulling the curtains back so the moon shone in with its bright beams. _I'll send messages to Tsunade. _He pulled open the window, a cool breeze blowing in. Naruto started climbing out, one foot on the windowsill and pulling himself over. _I'll have to-_

"You're an idiot."

Naruto froze at the sound of Sakura's voice.

He turned slowly and saw her lying in bed, eyes open and emitting a glare in his direction.

Naruto could only stare at her, mouth hanging open. "Wha – what?" He basically fell back into the room from the surprise of seeing her awake.

"You're an idiot," she repeated, moving to sit up in her bed. "Do you not think before you do _anything_?" she snapped. "I can't believe you'd be dumb enough to get up and leave in the middle of the night, like it would actually _help_ something. Baka." Sakura pulled the covers off herself and swung her legs off the side of the bed. "Do you not remember the last time that happened? It was Sasuke. He left me in the middle of the night, tore apart my heart. I cried forever and you swore to bring him back and tried and tried again. You basically hated Sasuke for what he did. Now_ you're_ going to leave in the middle and the night and – and break my heart again?" Her voice cracked. Naruto opened his mouth to say something (what, though, he didn't know), but she continued, standing up and walking towards him. "What a hypocrite. And a coward." She poked him roughly in the chest. "You just leave so you don't have to face me? Geesh. What are we supposed to do, send out _another_ Naruto Retrieval Team? Or is this a pattern, I fall in love with one of my teammates and then he leaves in the middle of the night? Is it going to be Sai's turn next? How could you be such an _idiot_? You supposedly care so much for me, yet you'll break my heart by just leaving with a goodbye you said when you _thought_ I was sleeping?"

She finally stopped. Tears were shining in her eyes and her fists quivered, but her mouth was closed in a firm line as she glared at him.

"Hold on," Naruto started, holding his hands in front of him. "Can you back up a few lines? To that whole 'fell in love with my teammate' part?"

Sakura gave him a blank stare. "Is that all you got out of that whole thing?"

"Well, I mean I was listening but then you said that and I got sidetracked and-"

Sakura's fist slammed into Naruto's face.

He thought, _Yep, she's definitely all better._

Naruto fell to the ground, rubbing his cheek while she glared at him with her fist still held up in the air – the normal. The not-so-normal part was when she knelt down, grabbed his face in her hands and kissed him.

Naruto's eyes had been clenched closed, expecting another hit (maybe a head butt), but now they flew open in surprise, staring at the love of his life kissing him _on her own free will_.

Sakura pulled back and they stared into each other's eyes.

"So back to the whole 'fell in love with my teammate' part…"

Sakura sighed. "I love you, Naruto. I thought I kind of made that clear already."

"Yeah, you did," Naruto said, a giant grin on his face. He was still slightly stunned; one second he's about to jump out a window to leave Konoha for good, the next he's sitting on the floor kissing Sakura, who doesn't hate him. "I just wanted to hear you actually say it."

Sakura pulled another glare out and opened her mouth to retort, but was interrupted by Naruto's lips as he initiated the kiss this time. When they pulled apart, Naruto grabbed Sakura and pulled her against him, holding her tight and breathing in her scent.

"This is real, isn't it?" Naruto smiled into her hair.

"I sure hope so because I don't think I could remember all the words to that amazing little speech I gave there," Sakura said, giving him a squeeze.

Naruto gave a little laugh, but his feelings from before came up and he buried his face in her neck as though he could hide from them. "I was so scared," he whispered. "So scared that you wouldn't live… so scared that you would hate me… and I'm still scared."

Sakura pulled away a little to look into his eyes. "Of what?"

"Of hurting you again." Naruto pulled back completely, releasing her and standing up. He instantly missed her touch but didn't move to take it back.

Sakura stood up too and reached out, grasping his hand. "You never hurt me."

Naruto frowned at her. "Sakura, in case you haven't noticed, this is a _hospital_ that you've been staying in-"

"_You _have never hurt me," she repeated, grabbing his other hand in hers so that she held both. "_Naruto Uzumaki_ has never hurt me. _My idiot teammate_ has never hurt me. _The boy I love_ has never hurt me." Her eyes shone as she looked at him. "Don't you understand? I know who you are, Naruto. I know that you have feelings and emotions and that you aren't a monster." She stared at him meaningfully, trying to get her message across. "The Nine-Tails is the monster. _The Nine-Tails_ has hurt me."

Naruto started to pull his hands away. "Exactly, I _am_ the Nine-Tails-"

"No, you're not!" Sakura held on tight to his hands, not letting him go. "I knew you were slow Naruto, but come on, that's what I've been saying - _you are not the Nine-Tails!_ The Nine-Tails isn't the one that played pranks on Kakashi-sensei, the Nine-Tails isn't the one who went after Sasuke, the Nine-Tails isn't the one who loves ramen, the Nine-Tails isn't the one who loves _me_ – you are!" Her voice was desperate. "You are your own person, Naruto, who just happens to have something else inside of him."

"I'm dangerous though," Naruto argued. "If I did it once, I could do it again. Go crazy and kill someone I love. I can't control the Nine-Tails."

"Then learn how," Sakura snapped, poking him in the chest. "Seriously, Naruto, you're the one who never gives up on anything. There's got to be ways to do it. We'll find someone who knows how, we'll talk to the other jinchūriki, we'll do something! We can figure it out together. And do you think I didn't know you were dangerous? I've only seen you transform how many times, and gotten hurt once. If I was afraid of you, I would have been out of here after that."

Naruto stared at Sakura. "You are one fiery girl, you know that?"

Chakra glowed around her fist.

"And I love that about you!" Naruto hastily continued. "It's just… what if I can't control the Nine-Tails? What if I never can? I can't stop when I turn into him."

"You turned into the Nine-Tails to protect me," Sakura said. "The Nine-Tails almost killed me, but if you never turned I would have been dead for sure."

"What?" This was news to Naruto.

Sakura lifted the hem of her shirt until a jagged white scar on her side showed. It was barely healed and clearly permanent, a white and shiny mark that showed how the original wound had been undoubtedly painful.

"Did I…?" Naruto started, reaching out to touch the scar but stopping an inch away.

Sakura shook her head. "No, _they_ did - the men who ambushed us. After they surrounded me and took me down, that was when you changed. It was only after they hurt me." Sakura dropped the side of her shirt back down, looking at Naruto with her green eyes. She was quiet for a moment, as though thinking about something else.

"Every moment I've spent with you has erased a memory of Sasuke." Her voice was quiet. "I don't love him anymore. Sometimes I think that I never did. All I know is that he's gone, and you're here. He never cared for me, and you've always cared for me. Even though you may be 'dangerous' and stupid and immature and clumsy and annoying and-"

"Ok, ok," Naruto interrupted.

Sakura laughed. "Even though you can be all of those things, you're also the one person who will love me the most. And you're kind, caring, brave, loyal, and you never give up. And I love you, so that seems like a pretty good deal."

Naruto scanned her face, looking for any shred of deception. He only found love.

"So you're saying that after everything, you're just going to take me how I am and love me."

"Yup."

Naruto's lips crashed back into Sakura's.

After a moment, Sakura pulled back, laughing; the sound made everything in Naruto's world suddenly right. Suddenly, everything was okay.

"Together," she repeated from her earlier statement as they stood holding hands in the moonlight, the air warm with love.

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><p><strong>-FIN-<strong>

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><p><strong>PLEASE READ<strong>

**V**

I WILL WRITE AN EPILOGUE.

Please review guys, I'm so unsure and iffy and stuff on this ending, I want to know what you guys think. I might even take it down and re-write it depending on what you guys say.

Thank you sooooooooooo much to everyone who has read this story and favorited and reviewed and everything! I love you all like you don't even know.

and just in case I don't get to say anything else, I'm going to take some down time to work on my next stories before I start posting anything because 1) I don't want a repeat of Like A Red Rose in the Summer, where I posted the story then didn't know where I was going with it so I took it down and 2) it's the end of the school year so I'm getting kind of busy and I don't want to give a ton of late updates

So if you haven't voted on my profile, please do so, that way I know which stories to work on!

I LOVE YOU GUYS

Reviews are super-appreciated!


	20. Epilogue

I'm sooooo done with this story. I don't even like the ending. But here's the epilogue I promised you guys, the final chapter to Deadly Mistake.

I have two shout outs: One is for _CupCakeQueen_ for the amazing review! I couldn't reply to you since you were a guest. D: And I'm sorry but I've already got quite a few stories I want to try writing, plus, truthfully, I forget who Matsuri is so writing a fanfic about her is just eeehh. But thank you anyways! C:

The other is to _SuomiTytt_: I'm sorry if it wasn't clear, but Sakura woke up before Naruto came in, not just all of a sudden at his voice. ^^ She just pretended to be asleep to see what he would say/do. She was able to do that since the monitors had recently been unplugged, otherwise he would have noticed that her heartrate and breathing wasn't of a sleeping person. C; Thank you for your review!

**I just want to say how much I love you guys~ I mean seriously, I've had so many of you wonderful people review this story and love me and I'm just like aaahhhh I love you guys too! ;u; You have my sincerest thanks. ^^**

So for the last time in this story, I don't own Naruto, aaannndddd,

ENJOY~!

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><p><strong>EPILOGUE<strong>

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><p>"You do realize that everything can't just be normal," Tsunade said. Her hands were folded on her desk in front of her and she looked at them through narrowed eyes. "Things can't just go back to how they were after what has happened."<p>

It was the following morning and a group had gathered in Tsunade's office; Naruto, Sakura, Sai, Kakashi, Iruka, Yamato, Shizune, and Tsunade herself. Naruto and Sakura had planted themselves in front of the Hokage's desk, standing firm and holding hands tightly. Everyone else stood around them.

"Civilians would come every day to request that you be banished from the city," Shizune told Naruto, not meeting his gaze but rather looking sideways out the window. "Some have even left it themselves because they've deemed it _unsafe_."

"You being in the village will cause quite the problem," Tsunade summed up.

"That's why I'm not planning on staying here."

Everyone's head snapped towards Naruto, who had spoken the statement. He looked at Sakura and squeezed her hand. "_We _aren't planning on staying here."

"What do you mean?" Iruka asked, taking a step forward. "You're… leaving the village?"

Naruto nodded. "Like Tsunade said, staying would cause a problem. The village doesn't trust me right now, so I have to earn that trust back." Naruto swept his gaze around the group, holding his head high. "I'm going to go and learn how to control the Nine-Tails."

Just saying the words out loud, confidently, Naruto felt something move in his stomach. _It'd_ heard him.

_No,_ Naruto corrected in his head, thinking of the tribal village and their respect for the tailed-beasts. _That's not what I'm going to say anymore._

_Kurama_ had heard him.

The sensation Naruto had felt stopped. In the back of his mind, he could feel curiosity and confusion – not of his own.

"Where?" Tsunade questioned bringing his thoughts back to their current situation.

Naruto and Sakura looked at each other. "We were thinking of finding the other jinchūriki," Sakura explained. "The ones who know how to control their tailed-beasts. They'd be as good a start as any."

They stood in a nervous moment of silence as Tsunade closed her eyes, thinking. She reopened them and looked at the two in front of her. "It's a worthy idea. And I can help; I know of the other jinchūriki and have a vague idea of their whereabouts – their exact location isn't revealed to any other village, of course. But I know where you can start."

A grin started to poke out on Naruto's face. "So you'll let me go, Grandma?"

She glared at him. "I think it is essential that you travel and find how to control the Nine-Tails. Though I'm not sure how _essential_ it is for you to go with Sakura."

A tense silence blew through the room. Naruto tightened his grip on Sakura's hand. "I'm never going to hurt her again," Naruto declared, narrowing his eyes at Tsunade. "She's as safe with me as anywhere else."

"We're in this together," Sakura added, and Tsunade's eyes softened when she looked at the pink haired girl.

"I know," Tsunade said, her voice quiet with uncharacteristic caring. "I'm just… worried about you."

"Same goes for you, Naruto," Iruka said, concern in his eyes.

Naruto and Sakura looked at each other, their eyes sparkling with laughter at the worry of their parent-like figures.

"Regular check-ins every two weeks," Sakura began. "Either in person or by letter. Give us a year. Naruto controlling the Nine-Tails will be a valuable asset to the village." Shizune and Tsunade looked at each other, smirking at their apprentice's ways of persuasion. "Plus… we care about him." Sakura looked up at Naruto and everyone else nodded; no matter what, they knew that controlling the Nine-Tails would be best for Naruto.

Shizune started towards Tsunade's desk. Kakashi stopped her, whispering something in her ear before she continued and whispered something in Tsunade's ear. Sai and Yamato were having a hushed conversation.

"I want a vote from the people in this room," Tsunade ordered. "Raise your hand if you think that it would be the correct choice to let these two go on this mission."

Naruto threw his hand in the air, jumping up and down. Sakura laughed, pulling his arm back to the side and trying to settle him. Everyone else chuckled as slowly -but surely- each hand was raised.

Everyone turned their eyes to Tsunade, who was leaning on her fist. When she realized they all were looking at her, she lifted her head up and opened her palm, raising her hand.

"Well, Naruto, Sakura," Tsunade said, "you better start packing."

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><p>Naruto was hoping to leave that day, but of course nothing ever went his way. When Sakura went home she was bombarded by her parents; she explained everything to them. They said no, she couldn't go. Naruto didn't blame them.<p>

_Sure, daughter,_ he mocked in his head. _We nearly lost you to death, but since you just got out of the hospital, of course you can go off on a mission for who-knows-how-long with the boy that almost killed you!_

Yeah, he would have said no, too.

But this was important. Well, to him – and he was important to her, so apply the transitive property and this was important to her, too.

Even when Sakura finally convinced her parents to let her go (it was more of a "You can't stop me, I make my own decisions," type deal), then there was their friends. Some were still doubting Naruto, their trust partially broken. Some wanted to come along – especially Lee.

"Guys, this is my own personal mission," Naruto had to say. "It's not something I want you guys to risk yourselves on. Heck, I don't even want Sakura to go-" The pink haired girl pouted. "-but I just can't say no to her."

So the two tried to mend trust and convince everyone that yes, it was okay for them to go. Tsunade was allowing it, so even though their opinions were valued, the Hokage had the final call; they were to go.

Naruto itched to get out of the village. Everywhere he walked, people gave him _that look_ and called him numerous things – monster, killer, scum, etc. He was tempted to just hide until it was time to leave, but he wouldn't succumb to them and sneak around in the shadows. Naruto walked the streets with his head held high because he knew that no matter what they said, he wasn't a monster, and he was going to fix the one living inside of him.

_My teammate,_ he thought, strolling down the street. A random man shouted, "Get out of here!" Naruto ignored him. _Hear that, Kurama? We're a team. Me and you. You'd better believe it!_

**I stopped believing in humans long ago.**

Naruto stopped, looking around. Nobody else seemed to have heard it, but during what Naruto would have expected to be silence in his head, that voice had spoken. One he hadn't heard before yet sounded familiar; one that hadn't bothered to speak to him until now.

_Is that you, Kurama?_

Naruto didn't get an answer, but he knew it anyways.

He had broken through.

* * *

><p>Naruto woke up the next morning a little groggy. Someone had thrown a rock through his window in the middle of the night, shattering the glass. He didn't see anyone outside, but shouted obscenities anyways before finding a broom and sweeping up the shards. After that he had trouble sleeping, imagining the angry faces of the other villagers in his head.<p>

When morning finally came, he woke up and grabbed his backpack; it was large and heavy, containing what he'd need while on this mission. Extra clothes, food, camping gear, weapons – he didn't know how long he'd be gone and had to prepare.

_Nice morning, _Naruto thought as he stepped out of his apartment. The sky was a light blue with almost no clouds, the sun warming the air and birds singing nearby.

Naruto made his way to the front gate and stopped, surprised, at all the people there.

"Naruto!" Kiba shouted, waving at him. Everyone turned to look.

"Oh, hey guys," he greeted, still taken aback by how many of his friends has shown up. Kiba clapped a hand on his shoulder and Shikamaru nodded at him.

"You two just had to get up early to leave, didn't you?" Shikamaru yawned. "Troublesome."

Naruto laughed, and so did Ino who had come up next to them. It died away when she caught his eye. The blonde girl fixed him with a look, a silent, searching look that pleaded, _Please, keep her safe._

Naruto swallowed, feeling a lump in his throat at the trust he'd lost. He nodded, hoping his eyes conveyed, _I'll protect her with my life._

Their moment was broken by a high voice yelling.

"My beautiful blossom! Such a fragile flower has just bloomed again, yet being whisked away! My eyes will miss your beauty and cry every day, I-"

Naruto turned to see Lee kneeling on the ground, holding one of Sakura's hands; then her fist slammed into the side of his head, sending him flying away from her.

"Fragile?" Sakura growled, cracking her knuckles. "I'll show you what's fragile."

"Hey!" Ino said, jumping in front of Sakura and putting her hands on her arms. "Naruto's here now! You'll have to leave soon, Forehead."

Sakura gave Ino a friendly glare. "I know, Pig." She embraced her friend before turning to Naruto and waving. Sakura had a backpack similar to his resting on her shoulders.

"Are you ready?" Naruto asked, walking up to her and grabbing her hand.

She squeezed his hand and smiled at him. "Whenever you are."

They went through and said their goodbyes, distributing hugs. Hinata blushed and almost fell over when Naruto hugged her. Chouji gave both of them some food for their journey. They were both surprised that Sai actually hugged them – it wasn't the warmest, heartfelt hug, but it was still physical contact. Kakashi and Yamato both bid them farewell too, reminding them of strategies, tactics, and lessons they had learned together that may be helpful. Kakashi also handed over information Tsunade had dug up about the other jinchūriki.

Naruto and Sakura looked at each other, still holding hands, and turned towards the gates. A path through the forest opened up in front of them. Their friends shouted their final farewells –"Bye!" and "Good luck!" and "We'll miss you!"- as a bird swooped overhead, flying in front of them.

Naruto and Sakura followed its path, stepping out of Konoha and walking towards their future.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Nine months later.<strong>_

It was a cool summer night; a full moon rose over Konoha, the stars twinkling - thousands dotted the sky. A fresh breeze blew through, refreshing the few people still awake. Half the city was dark, half lit up, lights sitting all over the city. It was calm and quiet.

On top of the Hokage Mountain overlooking the city, two figures appeared. They stood at the edge, looking out across the buildings.

"It's been a while," one said, his voice clearly male. "Not much has changed though."

A girl's laugh rang out. "You're the one who's changed," she said, taking his hand.

"Do you think they'll be… scared of me?"

"I think they'll be in awe," she replied. "They'll be impressed."

"Really, Sakura?"

Sakura looked at him. "I know_ I_ am."

"At this?" he said, and in a sudden burst his eyes turned to red and a golden chakra shot out around him, encasing him. A black pattern danced through his limbs and chest. Power radiated off of him.

Sakura laughed as the chakra spread through their intertwined hands up to her, encasing her body in the gold chakra. "Yes, at that, Naruto."

They stood over Konoha, gold beacons above the city. Naruto felt many things – strength, power, friendship, love. They lifted him up to Cloud Nine as he stood there, Sakura in hand. And there was one thing responsible for it all.

_Thank you, Kurama._

**Whatever, kid.**

Naruto grinned, feeling the friendship between them. _We're a team,_ he said to the Nine-Tails.

"We're a team," he said aloud to Sakura.

"You bet," she replied, grinning.

"On three?"

"Sure."

"One…"

"Two…"

**Three**!

Naruto and Sakura held hands as they leapt off the mountain to the Hokage Tower below, releasing whoops of joy.

From below, they looked like two shooting stars flying through the night.

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><p><strong>FIN<strong>

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><p>Hehe I like saying "fin" :D<p>

So anyways, I hope you guys liked my story! My plan for now is that I'll kind of disappear for a while to start writing a new story or two and see where I'm going with them. Just for like the rest of the school year/beginning of summer.

If you haven't voted on my profile yet, please do so! I'd like to know what stories you guys would be the most interested in.

Though I overrule all of your opinions. ;D XD

Well guys, this is goodbye for a little while! :O I'll be back with another story or two!

So please review because I know you're all so amazing and love to review, especially since it's the last chapter. :D

I LOVE YOU ALL. REVIEW.

c:


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